Eve Levin  //  10/31/17  //  Topic Update

In Garza v. Hargan, the D.C. Circuit ruled HHS had until October 31 to try to find a sponsor for an undocumented 17-year-old in federal custody seeking an abortion so the Government need not “facilitate” her abortion (NYT, The Hill, WaPo, WSJ). The en banc D.C. Circuit reversed, ordering the Government to permit the teen to expeditiously obtain an abortion  (WSJ, LA Times).

• The original order is here, and Judge Millett’s dissent is here.
• The en banc order is here.
• On Versus Trump Podcast, Charlie Gerstein and Easha Anand discussed the case (Take Care).
• Recap and commentary of the oral arguments before the original panel are here.
• The panel ruling was a dubious compromise to protect conservative judges’ anti-abortion chops, writes Mark Joseph Stern at Slate.
• The only limit on the government’s control over women’s bodies is “what they can get away with,” argues the Editorial Board at the New York Times.
• The federal government’s actions are unconscionable, contends the Editorial Board at the LA Times.
• The case reflects the Administration’s efforts to curtail reproductive rights and could be headed to the Supreme Court, writes Joan Biskupic at CNN.
• The D.C. Circuit faced three choices: enforce, upend, or hollow out precedent, writes Amy Myrick at ACSBlog.
• The undocumented minor’s pursuit of an abortion re-energized both sides in the decades-long battle over reproductive rights (USA Today).
• Brigitte Amiri writes that this case illustrates the Trump Administration’s threat to all women’s reproductive rights.
• Patricia Millett, the D.C. Circuit judge who drafted a dissent and then a concurrence in support of an unaccompanied minor’s abortion rights, should be the Democrats’ next Supreme Court nominee, writes Mark Joseph Stern at Slate.
• Following the ruling in her favor, the undocumented teen gained access to care (The Hill, LA Times, NYT, WaPo).

Although Temporary Protected Status will expire soon for 300,000 Haitians and Central Americans residing legally in the United States, the Trump Administration will not likely renew the benefit (WaPo).

The status of President Trump’s proposed border wall remains unclear.

• DHS unveiled prototypes for the border wall (NYT, WSJ).
• The proposal for a solar-paneled border wall appears to be dead.
• Yet, neither the Department of Homeland Security nor the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency has requested border wall funding (Project on Government Oversight).
• The President reiterated that he would support a DACA deal only if it includes funding for a border wall (LA Times).

A 10-year old girl with cerebral palsy was detained by federal immigration officials in Texas after passing through a Border Patrol checkpoint on her way to emergency gallbladder surgery (NYT, WaPo).

Oregon Senators are demanding to know why ICE arrested a man without a warrant (NYT, Seattle Times).

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