Garza v. Hargan

The American Civil Liberties Union (including the Reproductive Freedom Project and Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief of the National ACLU, and the affiliates serving Northern and Southern California and the District of Columbia) brought an emergency lawsuit in federal court on October 13, 2017, on behalf of a young woman who was being denied access to abortion care by the Trump administration.

In this case, the ACLU represented Jane Doe, a pregnant teenager residing at a Texas facility for unaccompanied immigrant youth, after the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) prohibited her from having an abortion. Our client went to court with the help of a lawyer and a court-appointed guardian and obtained the required judicial waiver. After the District Court for the District of Columbia and the en banc Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in her favor, Jane Doe obtained an abortion on October 25.

The case continued, with the ACLU asking the courts to declare the Trump Administration's policy of preventing young women from getting abortions declared unconstitutional because, regrettably, Jane Doe was not the only unaccompanied minor who experienced obstructions to abortion access at the hands of federal officials. In one instance, a young woman who had taken abortion medication was compelled to go to the hospital to try stop her from having the abortion. Another young woman who was considering having an abortion was personally contacted by Office of Refugee Resettlement Director Scott Lloyd in an effort to change her mind. In March 2018, the District Court certified the matter as a class action and granted a preliminary injunction blocking the government from interfering with unaccompanied minors’ access to abortion, including medical visits, court hearings, counseling, and other pregnancy-related care. The government appealed, but in June 2019 the Court of Appeals affirmed both class certification and the preliminary injunction as to health care access. The D.C. Circuit also ordered further fact development as to minors’ privacy rights and government disclosures of information about the health care decisions of young people in its custody.

The parties achieved a settlement in September 2020. HHS adopted a new policy under which it would not interfere with immigrant minors’ access to abortion and related services and would strictly limit disclosure of minors’ pregnancy and abortion information. The government committed to give the ACLU two weeks' notice before making any changes to the new policy. The government agreed to post a Know-Your-Rights notice regarding this new policy in both Spanish and English in government-funded immigrant shelters. The government consented to cover plaintiffs’ legal bills and litigation expenses. The ACLU then voluntarily dismissed the case.

[ORDER] September 19, 2020[/ORDER] Garza stipulation of dismissal without prejudice. [ORDER] June 14, 2019[/ORDER] DC Circuit panel opinion on merits appeal. [ORDER] March 30, 2018[/ORDER] Order granting Plaintiffs' Motion for Class Certification and Plaintiffs’ Motion for a Preliminary Injunction as to the class. [ORDER] March 30, 2018[/ORDER] Memorandum opinion and order. [ORDER] October 20, 2017[/ORDER] Circuit Court Order on Petition for Rehearing En Banc. [ORDER] October 20, 2017[/ORDER] Circuit Court Order Re: Administrative Stay Be Dissolved. [ORDER] October 20, 2017[/ORDER] Circuit Court Order Dissenting from the Disposition of Case. [FILING] October 18, 2017[/FILING] Plaintiff's Motion for Class Certification. [ORDER] October 18, 2017[/ORDER] DC District Court's Order Granting Temporary Restraining Order. [FILING] October 14, 2017[/FILING] Proposed Preliminary Injunction. [FILING] October 14, 2017[/FILING] Motion for a Preliminary Injunction. [FILING] October 14, 2017[/FILING] Plaintiff's Memorandum in Support of her Application for a Temporary Restraining Order and Motion for a Preliminary Injunction. [FILING] October 14, 2017[/FILING] Declaration of Brigitte Amiri in Support of Plaintiff's Application for a TRO and Motion for a Preliminary Injunction. [FILING] October 14, 2017[/FILING] Declaration of Jane Doe in Support of Plaintiff's Application for a TRO and Motion for a Preliminary Injunction. [FILING] October 13, 2017[/FILING] Request for a TRO Hearing on or before Oct 18, 2017. [FILING] October 13, 2017[/FILING] Request for a TRO Hearing on or before Oct 18, 2017. [FILING] October 13, 2017[/FILING] Proposed Preliminary Injunction. [FILING] October 13, 2017[/FILING] Proposed Restraining Order. [FILING] October 13, 2017[/FILING] Application for Temporary Restraining Order. [FILING] October 13, 2017[/FILING] Complaint. [FILING] October 13, 2017[/FILING] Declaration in support of MOT for Temporary Restraining Order & Preliminary Injunction. [FILING] October 13, 2017[/FILING] Declaration of Amiri in support of Plaintiff's Application for Temporary Restraining Order & Preliminary Injunction. [FILING] October 13, 2017[/FILING] Motion for Preliminary Injunction. [FILING] October 13, 2017[/FILING] Proposed Temporary Restraining Order.