US Govt Funds Religious Groups That Deny Refugees Abortion

The U.S. government was sued Friday for granting millions of dollars to religious organizations that failed to provide crucial medical care to unaccompanied immigrant minors, including teenage girls who were raped during their journey to the United States.

The lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) claims the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) allowed religious agencies taking in undocumented migrants and refugees to refuse female immigrant minors access to reproductive health services such as abortions and birth control, on religious grounds. 

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“When a teen has endured unthinkable tragedy—violence, rape, a terrifying journey to an unfamiliar place—and she arrives here afraid and alone, the last thing we should do is deny her the care she needs,” ACLU Senior Staff Attorney Brigitte Amiri told the news website Common Dreams. 

Reports estimate that between 60 and 80 percent of women and girls who cross the border are sexually assaulted, according to ACLU figures.

On Friday, the ACLU requested a permanent injunction on the ORR to make sure that federal grants allocated for providing refugee relocation services are not issued to organizations imposing religious-based restrictions.

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The ORR offers refuge for unaccompanied youngsters fleeing Central American violence and places thousands of them in communities while they await immigration court decisions.

In 2016, the government issued grants to help undocumented minors to over 30 private agencies, according to congressional testimony. Of these, at least 11 were affiliated with the Conference of Catholic Bishops or are otherwise known to oppose contraception and abortion, the New York Times reported on Friday. 

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“By authorizing government grantees to impose religiously based restrictions on young women’s access to reproductive health—care that they are entitled to receive by law—the government has violated the constitutional guarantee of the separation of church and state,” the ACLU said in a press release. 

In recent years, the number of unaccompanied children arriving in the United States has increased significantly. Since 2011, more than 125,000 unaccompanied minors coming mainly from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador have been apprehended after crossing the border from Mexico into the United States.