A 30-day public comment period began Monday, Aug. 4, 2025, on a federal rule change to stop most abortion services now permitted at the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to the Federal Register. (Stars and Stripes photo)
WASHINGTON — A proposal by President Donald Trump’s administration would eliminate most abortion services now provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs including in cases of rape or incest.
A 30-day public comment period began Monday on the rule change to add new restrictions to abortion services that are now permitted under limited conditions at VA hospitals, according to a notice published in the Federal Register.
About 100 veterans on average receive abortions through the VA each year, according to the notice.
The VA would still provide abortion services to pregnant veterans in life-threatening situations, according to the rule change. But abortions would be permitted only after “a physician certifies that the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term,” according to the notice.
“Denying veterans access to comprehensive reproductive health care is not only cruel — it’s dangerous,” said Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., who trained as a physician at the VA. “Rolling back these critical protections not only endangers the health and lives of veterans, it betrays the fundamental promise that our government will care for our veterans when they need it most.”
“Trump and VA Secretary [Doug] Collins are ripping away necessary health care from pregnant veterans whose lives and health are in danger or who were raped. It’s unspeakably cruel, and a grotesque assault on women who have put their lives on the line to keep us safe,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.
But Republican lawmakers on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee issued a joint statement in support of the new restrictions.
“Taxpayers do not want their hard-earned money spent on paying for abortions. VA’s sole focus should always be providing service-connected health care and benefits to the veterans they serve,” according to a written statement signed by Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., the committee chairman, along with Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa; Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas; Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis.; Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas; and Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich.
In 2022, under former President Joe Biden’s administration, the VA began allowing abortions in cases of rape, incest or when the health or life of the mother was at risk if the pregnancy was carried to term.
VA employees, when acting within the scope of their federal employment, have been able to provide abortion services regardless of state restrictions, according to the VA.
“Prior to the Biden administration’s politically motivated change in 2022, federal law and longstanding precedent across Democrat and Republican administrations prevented VA from providing abortions and abortion counseling,” the VA said in a written statement Monday. “VA’s proposed rule will reinstate the pre-Biden bipartisan policy, bringing the department back in line with historical norms.”
There are more than 2 million female veterans in the U.S., and nearly 300,000 are of reproductive age, according to the Minority Veterans of America, which opposes the new restrictions.
Female veterans are the fastest-growing demographic in the veteran population, the organization said.
“The 2022 rule acknowledged that abortion care is fundamental to fulfilling that mission. Access in cases of rape, incest or danger to a patient’s life or health should be the bare minimum — not the ceiling,” said Lindsay Church, executive director of Minority Veterans of America.
But under the new rule, the VA does not consider abortions as a “needed” medical service, according to the notice.
“The Department of Veterans Affairs is proposing to reinstate the full exclusion on abortions and abortion counseling from the medical benefits package, which was removed in 2022,” the notice in the Federal Register stated.
“For decades, VA had consistently interpreted abortion services as not “needed” medical services and therefore not covered by the medical benefits package,” according to the notice.
The VA decision to allow limited abortion procedures overturned a 1999 exclusion to the VA health benefits package for veterans and other beneficiaries of CHAMPVA — the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
CHAMPVA enrollees can include spouses and children of a veteran rated permanently disabled for a service-connected disability.
The Biden-era rule change loosening VA’s abortion restrictions followed a Supreme Court decision in 2022 ending the constitutional right to an abortion.
The VA said the high court’s decision created an urgent need to provide abortion services in limited circumstances.
