Lawsuit: Federal Outsourcing To Faith-Based Immigrant Shelter Homes Violates Reproductive Rights

Maria, a 14-year-old Central American immigrant who fled to the United States in 2014, was raped in her home country and again on her journey. After she was detained by federal immigration authorities at the border, she was placed in a Texas-area government shelter — run by a Catholic organization — where she found out that she was pregnant. She asked for an abortion but was denied. Federal authorities looked into transferring her from Texas to a Florida shelter to be closer to her family, but couldn’t because both shelters are faith-based and would not permit Maria to terminate her pregnancy.

Zoe, a 17-year-old Central American immigrant who left for the United States in early 2015, was arrested at the border and transferred to Youth For Tomorrow, a faith-based shelter in Virginia for unaccompanied children like herself. She found out that she was pregnant — also as the result of a rape — and asked for an abortion many times over the course of two weeks. She instead received counseling. When she still asked for an abortion, YFT asked the U.S. government to transfer her to another shelter that would let her get her procedure....
http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2016/06/25/3792679/aclu-lawsuit-unaccompanied-minors-abortion/