A  three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Friday unanimously rejected the Trump administration's blanket policy of denying abortion access to unaccompanied minors who are in government custody.

The panel, in a 81-page unsigned opinion, upheld in main part a Washington federal trial judge's preliminary injunction against the policy. The government's position could not “be squared” with U.S. Supreme Court decisions, according to panel members judges Sri Srinivasan, Robert Wilkins and Laurence Silberman.

“To be sure, the 'right to an abortion' is viewed to have a 'controversial nature,' as to which people 'sincerely hold directly opposing views,'” the judges said in their ruling, quoting from Supreme Court decisions. “But the Supreme Court 'has determined and then redetermined that the Constitution offers basic protection to the woman's right to choose.' And we are not free to dilute a constitutional right recognized by controlling Supreme Court precedent—a right the government affirmatively assumes unaccompanied minors here have—so that others will be dissuaded from seeking a better life in this country.”