Oregon lawmakers aren’t the only ones promoting taxpayer-subsidized death for illegals looking to abort their babies. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan is trying to set an incredibly dangerous precedent in Texas and elsewhere by insisting that illegal immigrant minors can terminate pregnancies at their own discretion and, even worse, at taxpayers’ expense. The baffling ruling was handed down this week in a case involving a 17-year-old minor who entered the U.S. last month and is currently situated in an Office of Refugee Resettlement shelter.

According to Judge Chutkan, “Despite the fact that she’s in this country illegally, she still has constitutional rights.” The judge also claimed: “Plaintiff … will suffer irreparable injury in the form of, at a minimum, increased risk to her health, and perhaps the permanent inability to obtain a desired abortion to which she is legally entitled.” And in a direct effort at stifling the opposition, she exhorted: “Failure to comply with the terms of this Order may result in a finding of contempt.”

According to The Washington Post, “Late Wednesday, however, the Justice Department appealed the case, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to stay District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s ruling.” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton countered Judge Chutkan’s ruling by noting, “No federal court has ever declared that unlawfully-present aliens with no substantial ties to this country have a constitutional right to abortion on demand. If ‘Doe’ prevails in this case, the ruling will create a right to abortion for anyone on earth who enters the U.S. illegally.”

He’s right. But that’s not stopping leftists from advocating abortion on demand, though the Texas case is alarming on a whole new level. As Family Research Council president Tony Perkins points out, “Part of [the government’s] duty is ensuring that our tax dollars don’t fund the taking of innocent human life. After all, this mother’s case is under the care of HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which means that every cent flows through the pro-life Hyde Amendment.”

Not only would a ruling upholding Judge Chutkan’s verdict for illegal minors set an incomprehensible precedent, it may force taxpayers to fund it. Even citizens don’t have that “privilege.” And it’s all because Democrats are making up rules and creating an inviting atmosphere that rewards lawlessness. As of Friday morning, the initial ruling has been stayed pending another hearing. How this plays out will have profound effects.

(Edited.)