New guidance issued to agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has ordered them to transport pregnant illegal aliens across state lines so they can get abortions in states where the practice is not banned.
The Daily Caller reports that the guidance will be announced formally in a memo later this week, after the instructions were initially leaked to the Wall Street Journal.
“This memorandum serves as a reminder of existing ICE policies and standards requiring that pregnant individuals detained in ICE immigration custody have access to full reproductive health care,” the memo reads. “This is also a reminder that, pursuant to existing ICE policy, it may be necessary to transfer a detained pregnant individual within an area of responsibility (AOR) or to another AOR, when appropriate and practicable, in order to ensure such access.”
ICE already had a policy in place to provide abortion to illegal aliens in cases of rape, incest, or protecting the life of the mother, and had previously announced in June of 2021 that it would no longer detain women who were confirmed to be pregnant.
The new policy from ICE is the latest move by the Biden Administration towards increased access to abortion, following the historic decision by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade and return the matter of abortion to the individual states to be decided. Following an executive order by Biden on the subject, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued pro-abortion guidelines for healthcare providers, while the Department of Justice (DOJ) has unveiled a new “Reproductive Rights Task Force.”
Biden has rejected more radical proposals to legalize abortion, including expanding the Supreme Court and using federal lands to set up abortion clinics. But he is allegedly considering declaring a “public health emergency” over abortion no longer being legal nationwide.