U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has stated that pregnant migrants in its custody are still entitled to abortion services when requested, according to a Tuesday report from The Wall Street Journal.
The newspaper said it had reviewed a memo from the acting director of ICE, Tae Johnson, that was addressed to the head of the agency's enforcement division. The memo, which has not been independently verified by Newsweek, reportedly said instructions should be given to detention centers across the country about the directive. It also reportedly said that pregnant women in custody who request an abortion should be transferred to receive one if they are being held in a state where abortion is now illegal.
The Journal said the memo was undated but added it referenced the Supreme Court's June 24 ruling that overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that protected a pregnant woman's right to choose to have an abortion. When Roe was overturned, trigger laws started going into effect in a number of states—including migrant-heavy Texas—that place heavy restrictions or outright bans on most abortions.
As the memo noted, the directive is not a change to existing ICE policy but rather a reinforcement that its current rules regarding abortion services remain in place in the wake of the High Court's decision last month.
"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 read, according to The Wall Street Journal. "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."
When contacted by Newsweek for comment, an ICE spokesperson emailed the following statement:
"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) consistently provides the workforce with updates, reminders, or guidance on new policies or federal law. ICE will continue to comply with federal law and abide by current detention standards which ensure that pregnant detainees in custody have access to pregnancy services, including routine and/or specialized prenatal care, pregnancy testing, comprehensive counseling and assistance, postpartum follow up, lactation services and abortion services."
The ICE memo reported on by The Wall Street Journal is another example of how President Joe Biden's administration has tried to push back against the Supreme Court's ruling. On July 8, Biden signed an executive order to protect access to medication abortions and emergency contraception, as well as to safeguard patient privacy.
His administration also announced on Monday that hospitals have been told a federal law will be aggressively enforced that requires doctors to perform abortions in emergency situations.
ICE already has rules in place that limit detentions of pregnant people.
Last summer, a policy went into effect that instructed ICE agents not to detain most pregnant, nursing or postpartum women for deportation. In a statement from July 2021, ICE said that putting such individuals into custody would only be done in "very limited circumstances in which detention is necessary and appropriate," and these detainees would be provided with "regular custody and medical reevaluation, ensuring appropriate pre- and/or post-natal, and other medical and mental health care."
Newsweek reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and the White House for comment.
Update 07/13/22 11:30 a.m. ET: This story has been updated to include a statement from ICE.
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