For about a month, Jane Doe, a 17-year-old undocumented pregnant immigrant that was about to be deported petitioned to have an abortion, but the Trump administration was preventing her from getting one. A federal appeals court ruled in favor of Jane Doe who fought the courts for the right to leave a detention facility, and this morning she had an abortion.
Sunday night, attorneys for the undocumented teen filed an emergency petition to have her case reviewed by the full appeals court since the Trump administration had blocked the teen’s attempt to leave the government-contracted facility to have the procedure. The federal agency had argued that the teen could self-deport herself but told them that abortion is illegal in her home country.
“I’m a 17-year-old girl that came to this country to make a better life for myself,” she says in a statement. “My journey wasn’t easy, but I came here with hope in my heart to build a life I can be proud of. I dream about studying, becoming a nurse, and one day working with the elderly.”
When she was detained she was placed in a shelter for children, which is where she found out she was pregnant. “I knew immediately what was best for me then, as I do now–that I’m not ready to be a parent.”
She says that at the shelter, they made her see a doctor that tried to convince her not to have an abortion by showing her pictures of her sonogram, of her unborn baby. “People I don’t even know are trying to make me change my mind. I made my decision and that is between me and God. Through all of this, I have never changed my mind.”
“No one should be shamed for making the right decision for themselves. I would not tell any other girl in my situation what they should do. That decision is hers and hers alone,” she says. For a whole month, she was detained at the shelter, waiting to hear news from her lawyers and judges. She’s grateful for all of the people that have made this possible. “This is my life, my decision. I want a better future. I want justice.”