The proposed rule said it would "ensure that VA provides only needed medical services."

The proposed rule said it would "ensure that VA provides only needed medical services." Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

VA to end abortion services in cases of rape and incest

The department had only provided a few hundred abortions since the Biden administration authorized them in 2022, VA says.

The Veterans Affairs Department will no longer offer abortion services to veterans who became pregnant through rape or incest, ending a policy the Biden administration had implemented in 2022. 

The short-lived initiative that allowed limited abortion access at VA medical facilities generated some controversy and efforts from congressional Republicans to unwind it. The Trump administration’s change, announced in a proposed rule on the Federal Register on Monday, would still allow for veterans to receive abortion services from the department when a physician certifies that carrying a pregnancy to term would endanger the life of the mother. Counseling related to abortions, which the Biden administration had also authorized, will also face a ban when the rule is finalized. 

Abortion opponents disputed VA’s legal authority to provide abortions, but the Biden administration maintained it simply had to engage in a rulemaking process to reverse its prior policy that had banned the procedure. The 2022 change was sparked by the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade that year, leading to a dozen states to fully banning abortions and several more instituting severe restrictions. 

VA said at the time the state laws were “creating urgent risks to the lives and health of pregnant veterans” and veterans’ beneficiaries. VA had previously not performed any abortions since at least 1989, department leadership said at the time.

While Biden administration officials cited a potentially significant need for access to abortions through VA, noting there are 300,000 female veterans of child-bearing age, the Trump administration said veterans and their beneficiaries received only 140 abortions through VA per year since the rule change went into effect.

“We take this action to ensure that VA provides only needed medical services to our nation's heroes and their families,” the department said in its proposed rule. 

It added the previous administration’s actions stood on shaky legal footing and upended decades of precedent. 

“The regulatory determination that abortion is not a ‘needed’’ service for veterans was accepted by every secretary and presidential administration for over 20 years,” VA said. 

Republican leaders on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, including Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., praised the decision in a joint statement and said taxpayer dollars should not go toward abortions. 

“It was wrong that the Biden administration violated settled law in 2022 and began offering abortion services through VA,” they said. “House Republicans, alongside President Trump, will always stand up for the sanctity of life—today’s decision by Secretary [Doug] Collins makes that message perfectly clear.”

Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the committee, called the decision “dangerous” and a “direct attack on veterans’ rights.” He added the rule “gags” medical providers from providing honest care to their patients. 

“Stripping away access to essential reproductive healthcare at VA, the largest integrated healthcare network in the United States, puts veterans’ lives at risk and violates the promise we made to them,” Takano said. “Veterans have earned the right to healthcare. Full stop.”

Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, called the proposed rule "unconscionable" and suggested veterans would suffer as a result. 

“After veterans put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms, the Trump administration is trying to rob them of their own freedoms and putting their health at risk,” Northup said. “This administration is sending a clear message to veterans—that their health and dignity aren’t worth defending.”

How are these changes affecting you? Share your experience with us:
Eric Katz: ekatz@govexec.com, Signal: erickatz.28

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