This column by ACRU General Counsel Ken Klukowski was published October 24, 2017 by Breitbart.

(Washington, DC) The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) has reinstated a federal trial court’s order authorizing an illegal alien to receive a taxpayer-funded abortion, setting up a potential emergency intervention by the Supreme Court.

Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a rare temporary restraining order, commanding an abortion be performed and holding that it violated an underage illegal alien’s rights under the U.S. Constitution to deny her an abortion paid for by American taxpayers.

A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit reversed in a 2-1 decision on October 20, giving effect to the standing policy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) against such taxpayer-funded abortions.

In an extremely rare move, all ten judges on the D.C. Circuit have reconsidered the appeal en banc, meaning all ten judges hear and vote on the case, without any oral argument, reversing the panel decision by a 7-3 vote, and sending the case back down to the trial court.

U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco now has the option of asking the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency stay of the D.C. Circuit’s decision in order to block it and once again reinstate HHS policy. An application for a stay would be directed to Chief Justice John Roberts, who has jurisdiction over the D.C. Circuit.

The case is Garza v. Hargan, No. 17-5236 at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.