House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) today released a joint statement with  Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law Subcommittee Ranking Member David N. Cicilline (D-RI), Constitution and Civil Justice Subcommittee Ranking Member Steve Cohen (D-TN), and Vice Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD), in response to a letter from the  Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, which calls for the House Judiciary Committee to subpoena Department of Health and Human Services officials involved in a decision to deny a 17-year-old rape victim her right to have an abortion.

“We wholeheartedly agree with our colleagues’ request that the Judiciary Committee hold a hearing on the Trump Administration’s outrageous attempt to deny an abortion to a teenage rape victim.  Just because she is in federal custody does not mean that she loses her constitutional rights, nor her fundamental human dignity.  This case is the third recent effort by the Office of Refugee Resettlement to prevent an undocumented minor from obtaining a constitutionally protected abortion, a disturbing trend under the Trump Administration that must be investigated by our Committee.  We join our colleagues in calling on the Chairman to hold a hearing on this important issue immediately upon our return in January.”

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