Paxton: Whose Due Process?

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (left) (Photo by Jana Birchum)

While the Trump administration – specifically the anti-choice Office of Refugee Resettlement – works tooth and nail to prevent undocumented pregnant minors from abortion access, Ken Paxton continues to lend a hand. With the Texas attorney general's support, the ORR sought to block a minor in Texas from attending abortion clinic appointments this fall, but lost after legal wrangling ("Court Rules Undocumented Minor Held 'Hostage'," Oct. 24, 2017). And in a recently filed legal brief to a class action lawsuit (Garza v. Hargan) against the ORR's disturbing policy, Paxton renewed his approval, writing that not only do undocumented minors with "no ties to the U.S." have no constitutional right to abortion, but that they don't deserve due process whatsoever. "If Doe has a right to an abortion, it is difficult to imagine what other constitutional protections she would not have by extension," Paxton writes. "The Court should begin with a threshold question: Do the Fifth Amendment's substantive due process guarantees apply to unlawfully-present aliens with no connection to this country who were apprehended while attempting to cross the border? The answer is no."

Texas isn't alone in its argument: Seven other states including Arkansas and Louisiana joined the amicus brief. However, legal precedent isn't on Paxton's side. Two SCOTUS rulings have held that the Fifth Amend­ment's due process clause protects the undocumented.