Azar v. Garza
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 4, 2018 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Decided
- June 4, 2018
- Term
- October Term 2017
- Vote
- 9–0
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
PER CURIAM. Jane Doe, a minor, was eight weeks pregnant when she unlawfully crossed the border into the United States. She was detained and placed into the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), part of the Department of Health and Human Services. ORR placed her in a federally funded shelter in Texas. After an initial medical examination, Doe requested an abortion. But ORR did not allow Doe to go to an abortion clinic. Absent "emergency medical situations," ORR policy prohibits shelter personnel from "taking any action that facilitates an abortion without direction and approval from the Director of ORR." Plaintiff's Application for TRO and Motion for Preliminary Injunction in Garza v. Hargan, No. 17-cv-2122 (D DC), Dkt. No. 3-5, p. 2 (decl. of Brigitte Amiri, Exh. A). According to the Government, a minor may "le[ave] government custody by seeking voluntary departure, or by working with the government to identify a suitable sponsor who could take custody of her in the United States." Pet. for Cert. 18; see also 8 U.S.C. § 1229c ; 8 CFR §§ 236.3, 1240.26 (2018). Respondent Rochelle Garza, Doe's guardian ad litem, filed a putative class action on behalf of Doe and "all other pregnant unaccompanied minors in ORR custody" challenging the constitutionality of ORR's policy. Complaint in Garza v. Hargan, No. 17-cv-2122 (D DC), Dkt. No. 1, p. 11. On October 18, 2017, the…
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