Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins is moving to stop vets and their dependents from accessing abortion counseling and services.Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/ZUMA
On Friday, the Department of Veterans Affairs proposed a policy change that advocates for reproductive rights say could become one of the strictest abortion bans nationwide.
The department filed a proposed rule seeking to eliminate coverage for the limited abortion services and counseling that have been available to veterans and their beneficiaries under the VA health care system for nearly three years.
In September 2022, a few months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the VA under the Biden administration began covering abortion counseling, as well as abortion services for veterans and beneficiaries who report experiencing rape or incest or whose health is endangered by carrying a pregnancy to term. Former VA Secretary Denis McDonough called the move “a patient safety decision,” and advocates praised the policy change for providing a lifeline for the most vulnerable veterans and their beneficiaries in the 15 states that had total or near-total bans at the time. (That tally is now 16 states.)
But the Trump administration alleges that the rule change was a matter of federal overreach, alleging it “contradicted decades of Federal policy against forced taxpayer funding for abortion.” And in arguing its position for yanking extremely limited abortion services from veterans and their dependents, the Trump administration has put forth misinformation and contradictions.
The proposed measure, says Sen. Patty Murray, is “unspeakably cruel and a grotesque assault on women who have put their lives on the line to keep us safe.”
The proposed rule states, for example, that the government would indeed allow abortions to proceed in life-threatening situations such as ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages. Yet, confusingly, the text also blasts “claims in the prior administration’s rule that abortions throughout pregnancy are needed to save the lives of pregnant women” as “incorrect.”
In fact, ectopic pregnancies are nonviable and life-threatening for the pregnant person, and incomplete miscarriages—in which abortion procedures are typically used to empty the cervix—can lead to hemorrhages, sepsis, and death. And contrary to the Trump administration’s claim that “no State law prohibits treatment for ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages to save the life of a mother,” reporting from ProPublica has shown that strict abortion bans have created a chilling effect for doctors, who have feared running afoul of abortion bans and have delayed intervening in medical emergencies, resulting in higher rates of sepsis and death.
The Trump administration further argues that minimal use of the existing policy by veterans makes it unnecessary in the first place. To abortion rights advocates, that claim is nonsensical and will cause harm. “After veterans put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms, the Trump administration is trying to rob them of their own freedoms and putting their health at risk,” Nancy Northup, President and CEO at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. “This administration is sending a clear message to veterans—that their health and dignity aren’t worth defending.”
Women are the fastest-growing group of veterans, with more than two million living in the US, according to VA data. As of 2024, more than half of women veterans of reproductive age lived in states that banned abortion or were likely to, according to the National Partnership for Women and Families.
The Center of Reproductive Rights also notes that one in three women veterans report experiencing sexual assault or harassment during their military service, according to VA data, which can lead to a need for abortion services. Unplanned pregnancies—particularly as a result of sexual assault—can also exacerbate the post-traumatic stress disorder that many veterans experience.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), a vocal advocate for abortion rights and a senior member of the Senate Veteran Affairs’ Committee, called the measure “unspeakably cruel and a grotesque assault on women who have put their lives on the line to keep us safe.”
“Donald Trump insisted time and again on the campaign trail that he supported exceptions for rape and incest—now he’s going after exactly those exceptions with this move to axe the incredibly limited abortion services VA provides for women veterans in desperate situations,” Murray said in a statement.
This policy move may come as no surprise, given that Project 2025 recommended it and Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins has been vocal about his anti-abortion views, as I wrote back in January.
The administration’s filing on Friday in the Federal Register marks the first step in the process of changing the agency’s rules; the next step consists of a 30-day public comment period, beginning on Monday. After that, the agency can finalize the rule, and it would take effect 30 days after being published.
If the proposal is finalized, which appears likely, it will be just the latest example of efforts to restrict abortion, even in states where the procedure is legal.