Azar v. Garza

In early September 2017, a seventeen-year-old Jane Doe was apprehended after illegally crossing the Mexico–United States border into Texas. As an unaccompanied minor, Jane was placed into care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Jane's guardian ad litem, Rochelle Garza, then sued the Acting United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, Eric Hargan, in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging that the government was violating Jane's constitutional right to an abortion in the United States. Judge Millet added a concurrence reiterating the arguments in her earlier dissent. Judge Henderson dissented, arguing that an undocumented immigrant is not a "person" under the United States Constitution and so does not have rights under the Due Process Clause. Judge Kavanaugh, joined by Judges Henderson and Thomas B. Griffith, dissented, defending the panel decision. That day, District Judge Chutkan amended her order to allow Jane's abortion to proceed "promptly and without delay". Jane had her pregnancy aborted on October 25. ==Supreme Court==

On November 3, 2017, the Solicitor General of the United States, Noel Francisco, petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States for a writ of certiorari to vacate the D.C. Circuit's ruling and moved for sanctions against Jane's lawyers at the American Civil Liberties Union. Francisco accused David D. Cole of professional misconduct for not informing the Justice Department that Jane's abortion procedure had been rescheduled to earlier than anticipated. The Court did not grant the government's request for sanctions against Jane's attorneys. The opinion was unsigned. ==Related developments==

On December 18, 2017, Judge Chutkan granted relief to two additional pregnant girls in ORR care who had sued for access to an abortion. On March 30, 2018, Judge Chutkan certified the pregnant girls' lawsuit as a class action and ordered the government to provide access to abortions to all girls in ORR's custody. ==Further reading==