There have been further delays in the case of Jane Doe, an undocumented 17-year-old from Central America who has fought the Trump administration to get an abortion in Texas. These delays risk further complicating this issue: Jane Doe is 15 weeks pregnant in a state that denies abortions beyond 20 weeks.Jane Doe has desired an abortion since early September and has raised private funds to cover the procedure’s cost. On September 25, she received a bypass from a Texas state judge, granting her the right to go forward with her appointments. But her shelter has refused to comply, as the federal government has argued that undocumented minors in their facilities don’t have a right to abortion. According to her attorneys, Jane has been constantly surveilled by shelter staff and has been given pro-life counseling instead.On Wednesday, Jane Doe received an initial victory from a district judge who chastised federal officials for their treatment of the 17-year-old and ruled that she had a legal right to the abortion. After Jane was released from her federally-contracted shelter Thursday morning, she was escorted to an abortion clinic, where she received counseling in anticipation of an abortion procedure she had scheduled for Friday. But as her appointment ended, Jane and her legal team learned that the DC District Court of Appeals granted the Justice Department a temporary administrative stay on her case.
This segment originally aired Oct. 19, 2017, on VICE News Tonight on HBO.