The Biden administration plans to allow pregnant women in federal immigration custody to receive abortions while in government care, even if that means transferring someone to a facility in a state with friendlier abortion laws, according to a new report.
The head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently drafted a memorandum to the head of ICE detention operations instructing the office to ensure that illegal immigrants who are held at government facilities receive reproductive care, including abortions, according to a copy of the memo obtained by the Wall Street Journal Tuesday.
“This memorandum serves as a reminder of existing ICE policies and standards requiring that pregnant individuals detained in ICE immigration custody have access to full reproductive health care,” acting ICE Director Tae Johnson wrote to Corey Price, the head of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations arm. “This is also a reminder that, pursuant to existing ICE policy, it may be necessary to transfer a detained pregnant individual within an area of responsibility (AOR) or to another AOR, when appropriate and practicable, in order to ensure such access.”
The move comes three weeks after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, rescinding the federal right to an abortion nationwide and instead leaving states to decide their laws on the issue. The change means states governed by Republicans will likely shift to stringent abortion policies, even outlawing the procedure at any point of pregnancy, while Democratic-led states are working to ensure abortion access.
LEAKED DATA SHOW U.S. BRACING FOR 161,000 UNACCOMPANIED CHILDREN AT BORDER THIS YEAR
Johnson’s memo is intended to prevent any legal problems for women detainees held in states that do not offer abortions. Because ICE uses local jails across the country in addition to its federal facilities, ICE preemptively gave its employees the green light to transport pregnant women in need of an abortion to a facility in a state that allows the procedure.
It is not clear how many women are in ICE detention at present or the extent that Johnson’s memo will be relevant, especially given the Biden administration’s instruction in 2021 that ICE officers avoid arresting and detaining illegal immigrants who are pregnant. Regardless of a person’s legal status, a child born in the United States is a U.S. citizen, a factor that could impact a woman’s decision to seek an abortion.
ICE’s long-standing health regulations maintain that its medical providers may provide abortions in only specific instances.
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“In the event continued detention is necessary and appropriate, and consistent with the practice of our federal partners, if the life of the mother would be endangered by carrying a fetus to term, or in the case of rape or incest, ICE will assume the costs associated with a female detainee’s decision to terminate a pregnancy,” ICE’s 2016 guidelines state.
