Leading an eight-state coalition, Attorney General Ken Paxton yesterday filed an amicus brief with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in support of the federal government’s refusal to comply with an unlawfully-present minor alien’s request to have an abortion in Texas. The 17-year-old (“Doe”) illegally entered the U.S. from Mexico without her parents and is under the legal custody of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which is caring for her and her unborn child at a shelter in Brownsville.
A hearing on the case is scheduled this morning in the district court, at which time the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) will request a temporary restraining order to force HHS either to transport the unlawfully-present minor or allow her to be taken to a clinic for an abortion.
“An unlawfully-present alien with no substantial ties to this country has no constitutional right to abortion on demand,” Attorney General Paxton said. “Texas has a legitimate and substantial interest in preserving and promoting fetal life. Texas must not become a sanctuary state for abortions.”
“Doe” first filed a lawsuit in Texas state court, asking for an order compelling HHS to take her to get an abortion. The ACLU argues that the Constitution confers on unlawfully-present aliens the right to an abortion on demand even when they have no ties to the U.S. other than the fact of their arrest while present unlawfully.
“If ‘Doe’ has a right to an abortion, it is difficult to imagine what other constitutional protections she would not enjoy by extension,” Attorney General Paxton said. “The free-for-all that would flow from that perverse incentive burdens the public at large as well as the governmental entities who will be tasked with honoring these newfound rights.”
Joining Texas on the amicus brief are the attorneys general of Arkansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma and South Carolina.