The Trump administration revoked a Biden era abortion rule on Friday that allows veterans to receive abortions under their medical package.
The Department of Veteran Affairs is reversing a 2022 rule that provided access to abortion counseling and abortions to certain pregnant veterans in addition to VA beneficiaries.
“We take this action to ensure that VA provides only needed medical services to our nation’s heroes and their families,” the Department wrote in a scheduled release for the Federal Register.
Officials said they were seeking to ensure taxpayer dollars weren’t used to provide pregnancy terminations.
“As a matter of law, it is without question that VA has the authority to bar provision of abortion services through the VA medical benefits package to veterans,” the release read.
“From 1999 until 2022 that is in fact what VA did. It was not until 2022 when the VA Secretary reversed this course,” they added.
The department said they would not prohibit providing abortion care to pregnant women in life-threatening circumstances, including treatment for ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages.
GOP lawmakers lauded the move slamming the Biden administration for previous changes.
“It was wrong that the Biden administration violated settled law in 2022 and began offering abortion services through VA. We pushed back hard on this disastrous policy over the last two years to hold the Biden-Harris administration accountable and protect the lives of the unborn,” House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mike Bost (Ill.) and Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (Iowa), Morgan Luttrell (Texas), Derrick Van Orden (Wis.), Keith Self (Texas), and Tom Barrett (Mich.) said in a Friday statement.
“It’s simple – 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,” they added.
However, others said the shift in policy will harm servicemembers and their families following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022, eliminating the constitutional right to abortions.
Katie O’Connor, senior director of federal abortion policy at the National Women’s Law Center, said the effort was a “direct attack” on those who have served our country.
“At a time when extremist lawmakers are passing cruel abortion bans and restrictions, this move only deepens the crisis those laws have created — stripping veterans of their reproductive freedom and creating even more confusion about where they can turn for care.
“Let me be clear: abortion is health care,” O’Connor said in a Friday statement.
“Veterans already face unique challenges to their health and well-being, including experiencing PTSD, recovering from military sexual trauma, and facing an increased risk of suicide. Banning access to the full range of reproductive services, including abortion, further jeopardizes their health and safety. No one should have to travel hundreds of miles, endure financial hardship, or risk their health just to get the medical care they need. Our veterans deserve better,” she added.
