Greg Toppo

USA TODAY

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is asking a federal appeals court to reconsider an order that delayed an abortion for an undocumented teenager.

A three-judge appeals court panel on Friday gave the Trump administration until Oct. 31 to find a sponsor for the girl, who crossed from Mexico to Texas last month and is 15 weeks pregnant. The move would facilitate the abortion without involving the federal Department of Health and Human Services.

In a petition filed Sunday, the ACLU asked the court for an emergency rehearing of the panel's Friday order.

Government lawyers have argued in federal district and appeals courts that the girl could return to Mexico for an abortion. But the ACLU has argued that this would deny her the chance to remain in the United States and that finding a sponsor could take too long.

Friday's ruling was unsigned, but two of the three judges announced they would write separate opinions — one concurring, one dissenting. The third is Judge Brett Kavanaugh, an appointee of President George W. Bush and a leading candidate for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Judge orders government to allow abortion for immigrant

Judge Patricia Millett, an appointee of President Barack Obama and another of the three, issued a harsh dissent on Friday, saying that forcing the teen to continue carrying an unwanted pregnancy sacrifices her "constitutional liberty, autonomy and personal dignity for no justifiable governmental reason."

Brigitte Amiri, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU, said the teen "continues to be held hostage and prevented from getting an abortion because the Trump administration disagrees with her personal decision.”

In Sunday's petition, Amiri and others wrote that while the litigation proceeds, the girl "waits to hear whether she will be able to have the abortion she desires or whether instead the government will be allowed to force her to continue the pregnancy and have a baby against her will. Our government has held her in this unlawful position for almost a month."

The federal court, attorneys said, "should not allow this injustice to continue any longer."

Contributing: Richard Wolf, USA TODAY. Follow Greg Toppo on Twitter: @gtoppo