WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on a pregnant teenager in immigration custody seeking an abortion (all times EDT):
5:30 p.m.
A federal judge has ordered the U.S. government to let a pregnant teenager in immigration custody have an abortion “promptly and without delay.”
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a new order Tuesday shortly after a federal appeals court ruling that cleared the way for the 17-year-old to have an abortion. The order allows the teen to get required counseling as soon as Tuesday and have an abortion Wednesday.
The teen is 15 weeks pregnant and being held in a Texas facility for unaccompanied minors who entered the United States illegally.
Texas law requires women to have counseling 24 hours before an abortion with the doctor who will perform the procedure. The government could still appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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4:25 p.m.
A U.S. appeals court has cleared the way for a 17-year-old immigrant held in federal custody to obtain an abortion.
The ruling Tuesday by the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overruled a decision by a three-judge panel of the court that at least temporarily blocked the teen from having the procedure.
The panel ruled Friday that the government should get more time to try to release the teen, who is being held in a Texas facility, so she could obtain the abortion outside government custody.
The panel ruled 2-1 that the government should have until Oct. 31 to release the girl into the custody of a so-called sponsor, such as an adult relative in the U.S. The teen could then obtain the procedure.
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