The VA plans to reinstate a near-total exclusion of abortion services from its medical benefits after a DOJ Office of Legal Counsel memo said federal law generally bars the department from providing most abortions. The proposed rule would remove abortions and abortion counseling from VA coverage while preserving emergency care when a physician certifies the mother's life is at risk. Lawmakers and advocacy groups have condemned the move, calling it a betrayal of veterans and an effective national ban for VA patients.
VA To Reinstate Near-Total Abortion Ban After DOJ Opinion, Keeps Narrow Life-Saving Exception
The Department of Veterans Affairs is moving to reinstate an almost complete ban on abortion services for veterans and their families after a recent Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) memo from the Department of Justice concluded that federal law generally bars the VA from providing most abortion care.
VA press secretary Pete Kasperowicz told CBS News:
"The Department of Justice's opinion states that VA is not legally authorized to provide abortions, and VA is complying with it immediately. DOJ's opinion is consistent with VA's proposed rule, which continues to work its way through the regulatory process."
Under rules adopted in 1999 and modified in 2022, the VA had allowed access to abortions in limited circumstances — when carrying a pregnancy to term would endanger a veteran's life or health, or when the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest. Following the OLC guidance, the VA's newly proposed rule would restore "the full exclusion on abortions and abortion counseling from the medical benefits package."
The proposed rule does include a narrow, explicit exception for emergency care: the VA says it "has never understood this policy to prohibit providing care to pregnant women in life‑threatening circumstances, including treatment for ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages, which were covered under the VA's medical benefits package prior to 2022." The proposal adds that the exclusion would not apply "when a physician certifies that the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term."
In the proposed rule, the VA argues it is "without question that VA has the authority to bar provision of abortion services through the VA medical benefits package to veterans" and notes that the Biden administration relaxed the prior ban after the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which eliminated nationwide federal protections for abortion. The VA also says the administration expected a surge in demand for VA-provided abortions after Dobbs that "never materialized."
Critics reacted strongly. Democratic Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.) called the move "yet another attack on reproductive freedom and a profound betrayal of veterans who put their lives on the line for our country." Rep. Judy Chu (Calif.) said denying veterans "the freedom to make their own health care decisions — especially survivors of military sexual trauma — is cruel, dangerous, and an insult to all who have served." The Center for Reproductive Rights called the policy "effectively a national abortion ban for veterans," noting it would prevent access to abortions at VA facilities across all 50 states, including states that otherwise protect abortion rights.
The VA's policy change was first reported by MS Now. The proposed rule will continue through the federal regulatory process before any final change takes effect.
What This Means
Veterans who previously could access VA-supported abortion care in specific circumstances could see those benefits rescinded, except in narrowly defined life-threatening emergencies. The change raises questions about access for survivors of military sexual trauma and for veterans who live in states that protect abortion rights but rely on VA facilities for health care.
