Democratic lawmakers rallied on Wednesday against a Department of Veterans Affairs proposal that would ban abortions.
House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Ranking Member Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Ranking Member Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) led 229 of their colleagues in submitting a public comment letter in opposition to VA’s proposed rule that would 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 their 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," the letter continued. "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 letter was signed by 231 lawmakers, including 42 senators and 189 representatives.
In a filing on the Federal Register on Aug. 4, VA proposed to end access to abortions and abortion counseling for veterans and beneficiaries of VA’s CHAMPVA.
The proposed rule would roll back a 2022 Biden administration rule that provided access to abortion counseling and abortions to certain pregnant veterans and CHAMPVA beneficiaries. That rule was the result of the Supreme Court’s decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, which eliminated the constitutional right to obtain an abortion.
In a statement to Connecting Vets, a VA spokesperson argued the Biden administration was the one bucking the norms.
“Prior to the Biden administration’s politically motivated change in 2022, federal law and longstanding precedent across Democrat [sic] and Republican administrations prevented VA from providing abortions and abortion counseling,” a VA spokesperson told Connecting Vets.
With the passage of the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992, Congress mandated that the VA was not to provide abortions in most instances. Beginning in 1999, VA’s medical benefits package expressly excluded abortions and abortion counseling in most instances.
The VA claims that it has been performing abortions infrequently since the Biden administration’s rule, which they say raises safety concerns and contributed to the decision to revert to a longstanding gag rule policy regarding abortion and abortion counseling. VA also stressed that the new policy would not prevent it from providing care to pregnant women in life-threatening circumstances.
The Democratic lawmakers criticized VA’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.
“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,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter. “Worse, such a ban would also be extremely dangerous to the health and well-being of veterans. As we have seen in states with extreme abortion bans, even those with ‘life exceptions’ in place, patients have faced severe health complications and even death in cases when providers did not know if the patient’s life was endangered enough to be covered under this exception.”
The public comment period for the proposed rule closed on Sept. 4.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.