Kelly, Colleagues Demand Trump VA Rescind Dangerous New Proposed Rule to Ban Life-Saving Abortions for Veterans

"This proposed rule seriously calls into question whether the Department is putting political allegiances and culture wars ahead of its sacred obligation to deliver quality, life-saving health care to veterans."

Senator and Navy combat veteran Mark Kelly (D-AZ) joined Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), House Veterans' Affairs Committee Ranking Member Mark Takano (D-CA-39), and 228 other lawmakers in demanding the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rescind their dangerous new proposed rule to reinstate a near-total ban on abortions and abortion counseling, including for veterans who have been raped or whose pregnancy is threatening their health.

"This incredibly dangerous and reckless rule change will take away essential health care for veterans and beneficiaries of the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA)," the lawmakers wrote in a public comment letter responding to the proposed rule. "For the past three years, these patients have been able to obtain comprehensive pregnancy counseling, including information about abortion services, and abortion care in cases of rape, incest, or life or health endangerment. This proposed rule seriously calls into question whether the Department is putting political allegiances and culture wars ahead of its sacred obligation to deliver quality, life-saving health care to veterans, including the more than 462,000 women veterans of reproductive age enrolled in VA health care."

The lawmakers criticized the VA's rule for stripping the Department's ability to provide essential health care in harrowing situations: "Evidence has shown that extreme abortion bans, like the ban this rule would create, cause chaos and confusion for providers, putting them in the impossible position of navigating laws that don't allow them to deliver the appropriate standard of care to ailing patients. Worse, such a ban would also be extremely dangerous to the health and wellbeing of veterans."

The lawmakers also criticized the Department's assertion that abortion is an unnecessary service for veterans, detailing the unique service-connected conditions veterans may have that increase the risks associated with pregnancy: "[W]e find the Department's claim that 'abortion is not a 'needed' service for veterans' to be insulting and ignorant. Veterans of reproductive age have high rates of chronic health conditions - many of which may be service connected, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), severe hypertension, and renal disease - that can increase the risks associated with a pregnancy. If a provider determines these conditions or others make an abortion necessary to preserve a veteran or CHAMPVA beneficiary's health, access to abortion should be considered essential health care."

The senators concluded their letter by demanding VA reverse this rule on behalf of veterans and their families: "Since the Dobbs decision, more than half of women veterans and CHAMPVA beneficiaries of reproductive age live in states that have enacted abortion bans or restrictions. Should their health be in jeopardy due to a pregnancy, or if they are raped, this rule will leave them with nowhere to turn. To finalize this rule will be a failure for our veterans, and we urge the Department to reconsider."

Background:

In September 2022, VA began to offer abortion counseling to all pregnant veterans and CHAMPVA beneficiaries, and abortion in cases of rape, incest, or if the life or health of the veteran or CHAMPVA beneficiary was at risk. This was in response to the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling creating urgent risks to the lives and health of pregnant veterans and CHAMPVA beneficiaries in states that have banned or otherwise severely restricted access to abortion.

Click here to read the full letter.