The Office of Refugee Resettlement is headed by Scott Lloyd, a staunch opponent of abortion who has personally tried to dissuade some young immigrants from having the procedure. The refugee office, he said, is supposed to be “a place of refuge” and must not participate in “the destruction of an unborn child’s life.”
Mr. Lloyd’s decision-making process, Ms. Amiri said, was “based almost entirely on his ideological opposition to abortion.” The government, she said, has “stopped at nothing to prevent unaccompanied minors from accessing abortion.”
Ms. Amiri, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, said that at least 12 immigrant minors in federal custody had requested access to abortion or information about it since Judge Chutkan issued her ruling in March.
“If a minor says that she is uncertain about her pregnancy decision and is interested in discussing abortion,” Ms. Amiri said, “the government then springs into action and tries to coerce her to carry her pregnancy to term.”
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