DOJ sidesteps Supreme Court battle over illegal immigrant teen abortions

The Justice Department has decided not to appeal a court ruling that requires the government to facilitate illegal-immigrant teens getting abortions in the U.S., defying President Trump’s pro-life allies who had been calling for a fight all the way to the Supreme Court.

The decision was made last week, when Solicitor General Noel Francisco allowed the deadline to lapse without filing an appeal with the justices.

He’d asked for two extensions of time this fall, as he said the government was pondering its decision, but ultimately dropped the case, leaving in place a lower court ruling that granted class action status to illegal immigrant teens and ordered the government to facilitate abortions for those who request them.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Francisco and the Justice Department declined to comment on the decision.

But analysts said he may have been convinced to drop the case after gaming out possible outcomes at the high court — particularly the role of Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, who participated in the case when it came through the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C.

Though the final decision would have been up to Justice Kavanaugh, it is standard practice for a justice to recuse himself from a case he had heard while on a lower court.

Curt Levey, president of the conservative court-watching outfit Committee for Justice, said that expected recusal would make this “not the ideal case” for a Supreme Court test.

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