PROTECTING ACCESS

ICE Memo Says Detainees Are Still Entitled to Abortions Despite State Bans

The memo, likely to be sent out this week, reiterates a policy that pregnant people held in states with restrictive abortion laws can get the procedure in different states.

According to an undated memo, ICE officials will issue a directive this week reiterating detained migrants’ right to abortion. The Wall Street Journal reviewed the document, which specifies that pregnant people held in a state that bars abortions should be transferred to a different state for the procedure. Rather than issue any new policies, the memo restates existing rules. ICE facilitates abortions for undocumented migrants in custody in cases of rape, incest, or danger to the life of the mother, a more capacious abortion policy than is in place in some states. According to an official familiar with the memo, it will likely be sent later this week, making ICE the first law enforcement agency to reiterate its devotion to the reproductive rights of those in federal custody. Just yesterday, the Biden administration publicly reiterated that a different federal abortion law about emergency treatment overrides state bans.