The Department of Veterans Affairs is reversing a Biden administration-era rule, eliminating most abortion services it provides, including for rape and incest.
A 30-day public comment period began Monday for the new guidelines, which were published in the Federal Register. They would rescind a September 2022 rule that allowed VA medical personnel to conduct abortions in cases of rape, incest and pregnancies that endanger the life or health of the mother.
“Before that time, this exclusion had been firmly in place since the medical benefits package was first established in 1999,” the new rule stated. “VA is also proposing to reinstate the exclusions on abortion and abortion counseling for Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs that were removed in 2022. We take this action to ensure that VA provides only needed medical services to our nation’s heroes and their families.”
The Biden administration changed the rule following the Supreme Court decision in June 2022 that ended a federal right to an abortion. It marked the first time VA physicians could perform abortions on federal property, even in states where it was outlawed. The new interim rule now requires women seeking abortions to go outside the VA system.
“This is a welcome correction to the overreach by the pro-abortion Biden administration that bypassed Congress and ignored the clear will of the American people,” Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life, said in a statement.
The new guidelines, which include care for ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages, and other life-saving procedures, have been in the works since late July but had not been publicized by VA leaders or White House officials, the Military Times reported Monday. Even though they are in a public comment period, the guidelines are essentially being enforced within the department.
A footnote in the notice in the Federal Register said the average number of veterans who received abortions from the VA was 100 a year, with the average number of CHAMPVA beneficiaries at 40 a year, significantly lower than the more than 1,000 a year the VA projected under the Biden administration.
Republicans on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, led by Chair Mike Bost of Illinois, praised the move in a joint statement Friday. Other signees included Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa, Tom Barrett of Michigan, Morgan Luttrell and Keith Self of Texas, and Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin.
“It was wrong that the Biden administration violated settled law in 2022 and began offering abortion services through [the] VA,” the lawmakers wrote. “We pushed back hard on this disastrous policy over the last two years to hold the Biden-Harris administration accountable and protect the lives of the unborn. It’s simple — taxpayers do not want their hard-earned money spent on paying for abortions — and [the] VA’s sole focus should always be providing service-connected health care and benefits to the veterans they serve.”
More than 2 million female veterans are in the U.S., with nearly 300,000 of reproductive age, according to a February report by Minority Veterans for America, which opposes the new guidelines.
“Those who fight for all our freedom must have the most basic freedom to control their own bodies and futures — and this rule robs them of it,” Alexis McGill Johnson, CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement Monday. “Taking away access to health care shows us that the Trump administration will always put politics and retribution over people’s lives. Planned Parenthood will never stop fighting to ensure everyone has access to the full spectrum of sexual and reproductive health care — no matter what.”
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
