The proposal would prohibit abortions in the VA except when the mother’s life is deemed in danger by a physician.
By Catholics for Catholics
A proposal by President Donald Trump’s administration would prohibit abortions now provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The newspaper Stars and Stripes reported that currently about 100 veterans on average receive abortions through the VA each year, according to a notice. A 30-day public comment period started Monday on the rule change to add new restrictions to abortion services.
Nevertheless, the VA would still perform abortions to veterans who are pregnant but undergoing life-threatening circumstances, according to the new policies. There is a caveat: abortions would be allowed 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.
Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and Bishop Daniel E. Thomas, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, responded on Monday to the proposed rule published by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on Monday.
“The women and men who served our country, to defend innocent life, deserve quality health care and supportive resources, not the violence of abortion,” said Broglio and Thomas.
The bishops said that in 2022, the VA and dependents’ civilian health benefits were changed to include abortion. The proposed rule would restore the prior, long-standing policy that prevented VA and civilian dependents’ health benefits from including abortion.
“The women and men who served our country, to defend innocent life, deserve quality health care and supportive resources, not the violence of abortion,” wrote the bishops. “Veterans’ health facilities must not be places of death, but places of great hope. We are grateful that the Department of Veterans Affairs is stepping up to protect preborn children and families once again from taxpayer-funded, elective abortion, and look forward to reviewing the new proposed rule in full.”
Still, others like Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore, criticized the new proposal.
“Denying veterans access to comprehensive reproductive health care is not only cruel — it’s dangerous,” Dexter said, 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.”
However Republican lawmakers on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee begged to differ. They sent a joint statement supporting the new limits, according to Stars and Stripes.
“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.
Stars and Stripes reported that in 2022, under President Joe Biden, the VA started permitting 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.”
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