Sad chain of events

Richard A. Sokerka

First there was hope for the life of an unborn child. But in the end, the culture of death prevailed.

On Oct. 24, a federal appeals court ordered that the government must assist a 17-year-old undocumented immigrant, detained in federal custody in Texas, to obtain an abortion. And following the approval of a federal court, the teen had the abortion.

This was a very sad turn of events from our court system. The decision by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned an Oct. 20 decision from a three-judge panel — which delayed a decision on the requested abortion — ordering instead that an adult custodian be found for the teenager, which would remove her from federal custody.

That ruling, which in our opinion should have been allowed to stand, had won praise from the Texas Conference of Catholic Bishops who said that “federal and Texas state officials are to be commended for defending the life of an innocent unborn child in the case involving an unaccompanied pregnant minor in federal immigration custody.” The ruling allowing the girl to get an abortion would “require the government to facilitate and participate in ending the innocent life of the unborn child. Indeed, this case, one of many brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), has as its objective compelling others to perform, facilitate, or pay for abortion who do not wish to do so. This objective is unconscionable. No one — the government, private individuals or organizations — should be forced to be complicit in abortion,” the bishops urged.

The case revolved around the question of whether the federal government would facilitate an abortion for the teen, known only as “Jane Doe.” Since September, the minor has been in federal custody in a Texas shelter operated by the Office of Refugee Resettlement — an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Under Texas law, minors must have either parental consent or a state permission to obtain an abortion. Doe received state permission Sept. 25.

However, the federal government argued that since she is a minor in their custody, it has the right to determine what is in the best interest of the teen, and also stated that it has an interest in not creating incentives for minors to cross international borders in order to obtain abortions.

But by the actions of the federal appeals court and the ACLU, the culture of death was shamefully allowed to prevail.