VA leaders move to end all abortions at department medical sites

Veterans Affairs officials on Monday formally moved to end all abortions at department facilities, calling policies that provided the services at federal hospitals them “legally questionable” and unnecessary.

That policy marked the first time VA physicians were permitted to perform abortions on federal property, even in states where it had been outlawed. The new interim rule revokes that authority, and will require patients seeking abortions to seek that medical care outside the VA system.

In a statement accompanying the proposal, department officials said the move is designed “to ensure that VA provides only needed medical services to our nation’s heroes and their families.” They argued that the decision to provide abortion services was a political one, and not a response to need.

The rule has been in the works since late July, but has not been publicized by department leaders or White House officials. Per federal regulations, the proposal will now undergo public comment and additional review before becoming permanent policy, but is essentially already being enforced within the department.

It impacts individuals using both VA health care services and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Abortion rights advocates decried the move as an attack on critical medical options for veterans and their family members.

“This proposed rule is a smack in the face to those who have served our country and their loved ones, stripping pregnant women of their bodily autonomy and restricting their access to abortion,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward.

“Once again, extreme politicians are attempting to interfere in patient-doctor decision-making, intentionally eroding the trust between pregnant people and their medical providers.”

Democratic lawmakers voiced similar concerns.

“The bottom line is, Republicans don’t care if your health is in danger, if you’re a veteran, or if you’ve been raped — they want abortion outlawed everywhere, in every circumstance, for everyone,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. and a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said in a statement over the weekend.

“This administration has shown nothing but callous disregard for veterans’ lives, their health care, and their livelihoods—especially when those veterans happen to be women.”

But Republican lawmakers praised the move, accusing President Joe Biden’s administration of overreach with the changes made three years ago.

“Taxpayers do not want their hard-earned money spent on paying for abortions and VA’s sole focus should always be providing service-connected health care and benefits to the veterans they serve,” a group of six House lawmakers led by House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., said in a statement. “House Republicans, alongside President Trump, will always stand up for the sanctity of life.”

In their Federal Register filing, VA leaders said the change will not prevent physicians from providing life-saving care in cases of ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages, since other provisions within the law already mandate those protections.

They also pushed back on the presumed demand for abortion services within the veterans community. Department statistics show that roughly 100 veterans and 40 CHAMPVA beneficiaries have received abortions through VA medical centers annually since the policy change in 2022.

But Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee ranking member Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., noted in his criticism of the rule change that nearly 500,000 women veterans of reproductive age are enrolled in VA health care, with more than half of them living in states with abortion restrictions.

“We cannot let VA stop providing this care to veterans by ripping away this narrow, targeted protection,” he said in a statement. “I will be fighting as hard and long as possible to reverse this cruel, dangerous new policy.”

The public comment period on the new rule change is open until Sept. 5.