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A group of 22 House Republicans wrote a letter Friday to the Biden administration, demanding answers on reports that federal agencies have transported illegal immigrants to receive abortions.
The coalition led by Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., addressed the letter to Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, noting recent media reports suggesting that the federal government has transported, via plane and car, minors from Texas shelters to abortion clinics in other states over the past nine months.
White House officials are exploring policies that would grant abortion access to women and girls in immigration custody, Reuters reported earlier this month.
“Your departments must immediately cease transporting illegal aliens to have abortions,” the GOP lawmakers wrote to Mayorkas and Becerra. “Abortion is not health care: it kills unborn children and harms their mothers. Federal taxpayer dollars should not be used to transport illegal aliens for abortions or otherwise facilitate abortions.”
“Using federal resources to transport minors across state lines for abortions or otherwise providing or facilitating abortions for illegal aliens in DHS or HHS custody is unacceptable and must be stopped,” they added.
Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., speaks during a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border in Yuma, Arizona. (Rep. Andy Biggs)
DHS officials have also prepared a memo in recent weeks informing immigration detention centers that women in their custody should be given access to abortion regardless of their location, according to internal documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal on July 12.
“The Biden Administration is now savagely transporting alien minors in federal custody to receive abortions,” Biggs told Fox News Digital in a statement. “This outrageous use of federal resources to transport minors across state lines for abortions or otherwise providing or facilitating abortions in DHS or HHS custody is a heinous act and must be stopped.”
“Secretary Mayorkas and Secretary Becerra must immediately cease this conduct and provide us a thorough explanation of why this callous practice began in the first place,” he continued.
Biggs’ letter Friday listed a series of questions for both Becerra and Mayorkas. He and his fellow Republicans asked how many illegal immigrants the federal government has transported to receive abortions, how much the program is costing taxpayers and if their agencies received parental consent before transporting girls for an abortion.
Becerra remarked last month that HHS would examine every option at their disposal to ensure abortion access for all women.
“Every option is on the table,” the health secretary said in an interview on June 28. “We will take a look at everything we can. And everything we do will be in compliance with the law.”
Becerra’s comments came days after the Supreme Court struck down the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, effectively sending regulating abortion to state legislatures.
On Thursday, Reps. Elise Stefanick, R-N.Y., and Buddy Carter, R-Ga., introduced the Defunding Abortion Transportation Act which would prohibit federal agencies from funding abortion transportation services.
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The DHS and HHS didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
