Target: Angie Salazar, Interim Director of Office of Refugee Resettlement
Goal: Advocate for better healthcare for pregnant women and girls caught in detention limbo.
A woman is about to be prosecuted for murder in Georgia because she took abortion pills to end her pregnancy. After she went to what should have been the safe haven of a hospital for aid, an employee of the hospital reported her. Meanwhile, as politicians continue to wax poetic about the “sanctity of life,” scores of pregnant girls and women are being denied proper treatment.
Despite protests from its own child welfare and healthcare employees, the Trump administration has decided that all pregnant migrant teens will be sent to a single shelter in Texas. This shelter lacks the resources to care for these girls. The choice of Texas is particularly notable, as the state has its own strict abortion ban in place. Reportedly, more than half of these high-risk pregnancies resulted from sexual assault. Making matters worse, the abortion ban has prompted many trained obstetricians to relocate elsewhere, which widens the care gap even more.
Among pregnant adult women who are not immediately deported, their ordeals can prove even worse. Women have reported being denied prenatal care, being shackled during examinations that do occur, and lacking access to basic nutrition like food and water. Sometimes, these detentions last for months (against previous federal directives) and ultimately result in tragedy. In just a few months’ time, at least 16 women reportedly experienced miscarriages while in detention facilities.
Sign the petition below to demand an administration that boasts about its value for children and life stop treating pregnant minorities like disposable incubators.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Interim Director Salazar,
Nearly 500 pregnant women were detained or deported in one year’s time. During that time span, 16 women endured miscarriages while in custody. A troubling number of pregnant detainees have reported lack of access to medical care, to nutrients, and to other prenatal services. Some of these women spent months in these untenable conditions.
Rather than take these sobering stories into account and course-correct, officials have instead decided to double down. Pregnant girls – many of whom are survivors of rape – have been crammed into an unequipped Texas shelter where they are denied qualified caretakers, counseling, and autonomy about their own bodies. These girls are likely terrified emotionally and at high risk physically, and they have no advocates.
If you value the lives of these girls and the children they may yet have, then act like it. Stop rolling back support for pregnant refugees and migrants, especially the most vulnerable. Provide the resources and care they desperately need. Make the words “pro-life” more than an empty phrase. Make them mean something.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Kari Alfonso
