The full US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 6-3 on Tuesday that a 17-year-old immigrant held in federal custody in Texas must be allowed to obtain an abortion. The teen, known only as Jane Doe, is about 15 weeks pregnant and entered the US in September.

Updated: (The Trump administration did not appeal the new decision to the US Supreme Court, which seems unlikely to take the case. The ACLU reports that the abortion was concluded.)

The young woman legally obtained a state court order Sept. 25 permitting her to have an abortion, which is legal. But federal officials in Texas refused to transport her or release her into temporary custody to have the procedure, paid for with her own money.

Lawyers for the Department of Health and Human Services, which is responsible for sheltering children who illegally enter the country unaccompanied by a parent, have said the department under the Trump Administration has a policy of "refusing to facilitate" abortions and that releasing the teenager would require arranging a transfer of custody and follow-up care. E. Scott Lloyd, the head of the federal refugee agency that oversees detention centers for minors, is a longtime antiabortion activist.

A district court federal judge sided with the teen last week, ordering that a date for the procedure be set. On Friday, the three-judge panel of the appeals court ruled 2-1 that the government had until Oct. 31 to release the teen. Texas has a 20-week abortion law, leaving activists to argue that the court was trying to run out the clock.

The Texas Observer writes today : "The ACLU estimates that hundreds of pregnant minors are in federal custody. According to documents obtained by the ACLU, Lloyd has personally visited pregnant teens in ORR shelters to counsel them against having an abortion. Hays said they don’t believe he has visited Doe."

Michelle Goldberg addressed the situation last week, citing E. Scott Lloyd's anti-abortion activism and several articles decrying birth control. Experts estimate that 60 percent of female migrants have been raped.

Brigitte Amiri of the A.C.L.U., the lead attorney on Doe’s case, told Goldberg"

“The amount of opposition to this young women’s abortion is just astounding,” she said. “And they continue to double down over and over again. Every step of the way, I think at some point justice will prevail and there will be some sense from the federal government that the rule of law prohibits what they’re doing, but they keep taking it to the next level.”

When it comes to controlling women’s bodies, the only limit is what they can get away with, concludes Goldberg and we concur.