The legal case surrounding 17-year-old “Jane Doe” from Central America ended Wednesday morning with an abortion.

Jane was detained in early September while attempting to illegally cross the Mexico-U.S. border. She was placed in a Texas shelter run by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), a division of the Health and Human Services Department. There, she learned she was pregnant. Jane said she wanted an abortion.

The 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade makes abortion legal in the U.S. However, laws vary from state to state. Texas, a staunchly pro-life state, requires minors to obtain parental consent before an abortion. Since Jane crossed the border without her parents, she had to get permission from a judge. She did this with the help of Jane’s Due Process, a Texas non-profit that helps minors get abortions.

As The New York Times reported last week, Jane’s abortion was originally scheduled for September 28. 

Dizzying Legal Brawl

Under a recent Trump administration policy, the head of the ORR must approve an unaccompanied minor’s request to have an abortion. E. Scott Lloyd was appointed by President Donald Trump to direct the ORR. A longtime pro-life advocate, he denied Jane’s request to leave the shelter for an abortion. 

A dizzying legal battle kicked off. The American Civil Liberties Union took up Jane’s case. They argued the government was holding Jane hostage and forcing her to carry her baby to term. They also claimed the government “forced her to go for counseling at a religious, anti-abortion crisis pregnancy center, where she was forced to have a sonogram.” Texas law requires women to receive an ultrasound 24 hours before an abortion. However, Jane was taken for her a sonogram days before her abortion was originally scheduled.

Administration representatives argued the federal government does not have to facilitate abortions for minors in its care. As The Texas Tribune reported, they argued Jane could to back home to seek an abortion. Or, she could enter the custody of a sponsor who would take her to get one.

A federal judged ruled on October 18 that Jane must be permitted to have an abortion. But the government appealed. A three-judge panel for a federal appeals court then said the HHS Department had until the end of the month to find a sponsor who would help Jane obtain the abortion. On Tuesday, the full panel of nine judges for the appeals court ruled that Jane must be allowed to have the abortion. She obtained the abortion Wednesday morning around 16 weeks into her pregnancy. 

Decision Could “Pave the Way” for More Abortions

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton expressed disappointment in a statement Wednesday. Texas was set to lead 12 states in an amicus brief before the U.S. Supreme Court, should the Justice Department appeal the government’s case. Last week, Texas led eight states in an amicus brief filed before the federal court that ruled in favor of Jane.

In the filed amicus brief, and in a draft Supreme Court brief shared by Paxton, states argue illegal immigrants are not entitled to abortions that aren’t medically necessary.

“Under the reasoning of the courts below, there will be no meaningful limit on the constitutional rights an unlawfully-present alien can invoke simply by attempting to enter this country,” the draft brief states.

“This ruling not only cost a life,” Paxton said Wednesday. He said “it could pave the way for anyone outside the United States to unlawfully enter and obtain an abortion.”

“Life and the Constitution are sacred,” he continued. “We lost some of both today.”