Trump Administration releases undocumented minor who sued to get an abortion

The Trump administration has released an undocumented pregnant teenager on Sunday after she filed a lawsuit accusing the government of preventing her from obtaining an abortion.

The 17-year-old girl, identified only in court papers as Jane Moe, is the fourth undocumented teenager to sue the Trump administration to obtain an abortion.

After the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit on Moe's behalf on Thursday, the Trump administration announced the next day that Moe will be released into the care of a sponsor on Jan. 29. But the teenager was abruptly released on Sunday, almost two weeks earlier than expected.

"While we are relieved that Jane Moe is reunited with her sponsor, the government blocked her from her abortion for more than two weeks, before deliberately moving her out of their custody only when we filed to take them to court," Brigitte Amiri, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project, said in a statement, as reported by VICE News.

"We continue to pursue all avenues to ensure that no other young woman like her is forced to continue a pregnancy against her will for purely political reasons," she added.

The ACLU had also represented three other undocumented teenagers who sued the Trump administration to obtain an abortion.

Their cases follow the Trump administration's decision to reverse a policy from the Obama administration that allowed pregnant illegal immigrant minors to obtain abortions.

In October, a court ruled in favor of the ACLU, allowing a 17-year-old, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, to obtain an abortion.

Reports indicated that the taxpayer-funded shelter where Doe was staying refused to help her obtain an abortion, citing the new government policy. She was instead taken to a pro-life pregnancy resource center, but she refused to change her mind.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), which oversees the Office of Refugee Resettlement, contended that there was "no constitutional right for a pregnant minor to illegally cross the U.S. border and get an elective abortion while in federal custody."

"Federal law is very clear on giving the director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement the legal responsibility to decide what is in the best interests of a minor in the unaccompanied alien children program and, in this case, her unborn baby," the ACF stated.

Following a series of appeals by the government, the ACLU eventually won in federal appeals court and Doe was able to obtain an abortion.

The Trump administration contended that the ACLU lied about the schedule of the teenager's abortion, preventing the government from filing another appeal.

According to Life News, the ACLU recently filed another lawsuit against the Office of Refugee Resettlement to force it to abandon the new policy and allow all illegal immigrant minors to obtain abortions.