Leading Legal Organizations Condemn Trump-Vance Administration’s Proposed Rule to Ban Abortion Care and Counseling for Veterans With No Exceptions to Protect Health or for Rape

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, leading legal organizations Democracy Forward and the National Women’s Law Center added their voice, alongside thousands of public comments, in opposition to the Trump-Vance administration’s proposed rule to strip veterans and their loved ones of abortion care and counseling – even in cases of rape, incest, or serious health risks. Although the Department purports to permit abortion where a pregnant veteran’s life is threatened, the proposed rule itself fails to ensure protection for that care. The deadline for public comments on the proposed rule is midnight tonight.

After the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in 2022, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) began providing abortion counseling and abortion care for pregnant veterans whose lives or health were endangered by their pregnancies and for those who were pregnant because of rape or incest. The Department made similar changes to the CHAMPVA program. As states began imposing extreme abortion bans and restrictions, the VA, as one of the largest health care providers in America, was a critical lifeline for veterans and their dependents to access care when they had nowhere else to turn for reproductive care.

The Trump-Vance administration’s proposed rule reverses this expansion of care, and if put into effect, would become the most extreme abortion policy across federal agencies’ health care programs. While active military members’ health benefits for abortion care also remain limited, they are able to access abortion in the event of rape or incest; this new rule would treat veterans differently, essentially making veterans “second class.” The proposed rule sends the message that after putting your life on the line for this country, a retired servicemember no longer deserves access to the same health care benefits.

Women are the fastest-growing population of veterans. As detailed in the forthcoming comment opposing the rule that will be submitted later today by Minority Veterans of America, veterans face higher rates of pregnancy complications, and the rate of sexual assault within the military and VA facilities is alarmingly high. Exceptions for rape, incest, and risks to a patient’s health are therefore especially critical for this community – making this rule change even more astounding and detrimental to veterans’ wellbeing.

“Barring veterans from receiving, and VA doctors from providing, abortion care through the VA in cases of rape or incest or where their health is threatened is reprehensible. It flies in the face of every claim the Trump-Vance administration has made about caring for veterans,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward, which represents Minority Veterans of America. “Stripping away women’s dignity and freedom to make health care decisions in their darkest moments is not only unjust—it’s inhumane. This rule is an outright betrayal of those who defended our freedoms, and it must be thrown out.”

“At a time when extremist lawmakers are pushing cruel abortion bans and restrictions across the country, this administration is deepening the crisis by stripping veterans of their reproductive freedom and creating even more confusion about where they can turn for care,” said Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center. “Denying them access to the full range of reproductive health care services — including abortion — threatens their health and safety. Our veterans fought for our freedoms. They should have the agency to control their own futures, economic security, and dignity.”

“Veterans should never have to question whether they can get the care they need when it matters most,” said Lindsay Church, Executive Director of Minority Veterans of America.“This rule would strip away our protections, put our care at risk, and betray the very people this nation has promised to protect. It is especially chilling given there are an estimated two to three incidents of sexual violence in VA facilities every day — the same institutions that would turn away veterans who become pregnant as a result. For veterans who experience sexual violence and pregnancy complications, the stakes could not be more urgent. To deny veterans abortion care is an institutional betrayal, and our community won’t stop fighting until the protections are restored.”

The proposed rule is the latest action by the Trump-Vance administration to undermine access to reproductive health, including abortion. This has been in lockstep with anti-abortion state Attorneys General and anti-abortion extremists who have waged continuous battles to strip away the still-existing federal health and privacy protections for women in this country.

There is increasing evidence that the administration is working behind closed doors to roll back access to medication abortion and undermine emergency health care protections for pregnant patients. The administration, according to recent reports, is considering a politically driven review of long-approved abortion medications and has rescinded CMS guidance clarifying hospitals’ obligations to provide emergency abortion care under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, a federal law that requires hospitals to provide stabilizing treatment – including abortion care – to anyone experiencing a medical emergency. This also comes as the State Department confirmed plans to destroy $9.7 million worth of taxpayer-funded contraceptives meant for women in low-income countries, including IUDs, implants and pills.

Three years after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, 41 states have some type of abortion ban in effect – with 12 banning abortion entirely. Abortion access is entirely locked out of the southern United States, and women across the country are forced to travel hundreds of miles to receive medically-necessary care. Democracy Forward, NWLC and our partners are committed to protecting access to reproductive health and to ensuring these actions do not remain in the shadows.