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An appeals court on Thursday temporarily stayed a judge's ruling that would have allowed a pregnant 17-year-old being held in a Texas facility for unaccompanied immigrant children to obtain an abortion. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued a short ruling that still allowed the teenager to be taken to a counseling meeting with the doctor who would perform the abortion. Texas state law requires women to receive counseling 24 hours before an abortion. (Merchant, 10/19)

In a rare move Thursday, a federal appeals court hastily scheduled an oral argument for Friday morning after U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, D.C., sharply criticized the administration’s position and ordered it to release the teen to travel to the nearest abortion clinic this week. The government appealed the decision immediately. The appeals court put the court order on hold temporarily so it could consider the case, which raises questions about whether undocumented immigrants in custody have the same constitutional right to an abortion that is accorded to U.S. citizens. (Kendall and Meckler, 10/19)

Federal officials say the 17-year-old, who entered this country in September, could solve the problem herself by voluntarily leaving or finding a sponsor in the United States to take custody of her. “The Administration stands ready to expedite her return to her home country,” the White House said in a statement. But the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the teenager, says she is entitled to have an abortion, which she would pay for, under the 1973 Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade. (Sacchetti and Marimow, 10/19)

The ACLU, which is representing the girl, has produced internal emails from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement suggesting the agency has quietly implemented a new policy banning abortion for immigrant minors in its care. The office’s new director under President Trump, Scott Lloyd, has told his staff to refer pregnant girls to pro-life religious pregnancy counseling instead of abortion clinics. In at least one case, he has personally met with a girl considering abortion. (Michels, 10/19)

The U.S. abortion rate has fallen dramatically, by 25 percent, in recent years. The procedure continues to be common: One in  four women will have an abortion by 45, according to a report published in the American Journal of Public Health on Thursday. Researchers used data from three surveys, two conducted by the federal government and the third by the Guttmacher Institute, to estimate abortion rates. They found that in 2008, there were 19.4 abortions per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44. By 2014, the number had dropped to 14.6 per 1,000. (Cha, 10/19)