A Justice Department memo last week found that the practice was not legally justified and that the VA could no longer provide abortions to veterans, including in cases of rape or incest.
The ban comes after months of efforts by the Trump administration to reverse a Biden-era policy that for the first time allowed the Veterans Administration to counsel veterans and their families about abortions and provide abortion procedures in cases of rape or incest or if a veteran’s pregnancy endangered his or her health. In August, the administration filed documents to formally rescind the policy, which had helped expand abortion access at the VA’s network of more than 1,300 medical facilities, which treat nearly 10 million veterans each year, especially after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
A spokesman for the Veterans Administration confirmed that the document remains in the lengthy rulemaking process.
Related: Trump officials want to block abortion services at VA hospital
“The Department of Justice’s opinion indicates that the VA is not legally authorized to provide abortion services, and the VA is complying immediately with that opinion,” VA press secretary Peter Kasperovich said in an emailed statement. “The Department of Justice’s opinion is consistent with the Veterans Administration’s proposed rule.”
An advocacy group obtained a screenshot of what appears to be an internal Veterans Administration memo that was circulated among leaders of VA regional care networks on Dec. 22, showing that the changes “do not prohibit the provision of care to pregnant women in life-threatening situations,” including miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, or “care determined by the veteran’s clinician … to save the veteran’s life.”
A spokesperson for the Veterans Administration did not immediately respond to follow-up questions about the screenshots or veterans’ ability to obtain abortions in medical emergencies.
“After veterans have sacrificed so much for our country, denying them access to basic health care and abortion services — even in cases of rape or serious health risks,” Skye Perryman, president and CEO of the legal nonprofit Democracy Forward, said in a statement. A screenshot of the memo was obtained and published by Democracy Forward.
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe, more than a dozen states have banned nearly all abortions. As of 2024, more than half of female veterans will live in states that ban or may ban abortion, according to the National Partnership for Women and Families.
News of the VA’s abortion ban was first reported by MS Now.