Pro-life groups are celebrating President Donald Trump’s decision to reverse a Biden-era policy that allowed abortions to be performed at taxpayer-funded veterans’ hospitals.
In a proposed rule published in the Federal Register Monday, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs announced plans to reverse a rule implemented by the Biden administration that authorized taxpayer-funded VA hospitals to perform abortions and provide abortion counseling in cases of rape and incest, as well as in instances where the mother is experiencing a medical emergency.
The Biden-era rule was implemented in 2022, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision resulted in several states passing near-total abortion bans. The rule enabled VA hospitals in states with near-total abortion bans to perform abortions in the aforementioned cases.
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“We believe the 2022 interim final rule was not only inappropriate as a matter of fact but also was legally questionable. The only time Congress has specifically addressed VA’s authority to provide abortions was in 1992 in section 106 of the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992,” the proposed rule states.
The proposal adds that the law authorized the VA to provide “general reproductive health care” but specifically excluded “infertility services, abortions, or pregnancy care (including prenatal and delivery care).”
It further clarifies that the “VA has never understood this policy to prohibit providing care to pregnant women in life-threatening circumstances, including treatment for ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages, which were covered under the VA’s medical benefits package prior to the 2022” policy change.
“The exclusion for abortion does not apply ‘when a physician certifies that the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term,’” the proposed rule continues, stressing, “No State law prohibits treatment for ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages to save the life of a mother.”
The proposed rule was approved by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins on July 24. Federal law requires a 30-day public comment period for proposed rules published in the Federal Register. That window is set to expire on Sept. 3.
In a statement shared with The Christian Post on Friday, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser praised the Trump administration’s plans to reverse the Biden-era policy: “We thank President Trump and VA Secretary Collins for restoring the rule of law and ending the Biden administration’s illegal policy that forced taxpayers to fund abortions through VA hospitals and violated state pro-life laws.”
National Right to Life President Carol Tobias added in a statement Friday that the proposed rule “reflects a return to longstanding policy and a reaffirmation of the department’s mission to provide life-affirming, medically necessary care to our veterans and their families.”
Tobias expressed gratitude for the “welcome correction to the overreach by the pro-abortion Biden administration that bypassed Congress and ignored the clear will of the American people.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
