Trump administration moves to end veterans’ abortion access in cases of rape, incest and health

Nearly all abortions, except those to save a patient’s life, would be banned at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals and would no longer be covered by VA medical benefits under a rule proposed by the Trump administration. The policy change comes from the Project 2025 playbook. (Getty Images)

The Trump administration has taken its first step toward restricting access to abortions for veterans who are covered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ medical benefits, reversing a 2022 rule.

Former Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration enacted the rule following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which ended federally protected access to abortion. More than a dozen states implemented abortion bans after that decision, and the policy was meant to preserve access to abortion for veterans in certain circumstances, regardless of where they lived. Veterans Affairs medical centers were allowed to provide abortions in cases of rape or incest, and when the life or health of the pregnant person was in jeopardy. Counseling about abortion was also permitted.

Under the proposal, nearly all abortions, except those to save a patient’s life, would be banned at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals and would no longer be covered by VA medical benefits.

In eight states with abortion bans, there are no rape or incest exceptions, including Texas, Alabama and Oklahoma, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Five states with bans also don’t have an exception in cases where the pregnant person’s health is at risk, only to save their life.

The rule also applies to recipients of the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA), which provides coverage to veterans’ families, including children, along with caregivers of veterans.

Officials wrote in the proposal that the 2022 policy was enacted because the administration expected increased “demand” for abortion services, but the rule cited abortion bans in several states that created an environment of uncertainty for veterans who might need care.

The Department of Veterans Affairs provided 88 abortions in the first year after the rule went into place, 64 of which were performed because of a threat to the pregnant person’s health, according to VA data reported by Military.com.

Rescinding the rule was a directive in Project 2025, the blueprint document published by the conservative Heritage Foundation and co-authored by anti-abortion organizations such as Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. The first of what the document calls “needed reforms” calls for rescinding all department clinical policy directives that are “contrary to principles of conservative governance, starting with abortion services and gender reassignment surgery.”

“Neither aligns with service-connected conditions that would warrant VA’s providing this type of clinical care,” the Project 2025 document reads.

U.S. law already mandates that federal funding cannot be used for abortions except in cases of rape, incest and in certain medical circumstances. The administration argues the 2022 rule violated the “bright line between elective abortion and health care services” and should return to a policy that only allows abortion care to save the pregnant person’s life. Counseling about abortion options would no longer be permitted.

“Taken together, claims in the prior administrations rule that abortions throughout pregnancy are needed to save the lives of pregnant women are incorrect,” officials wrote in the proposed rule description. “Prior to September 9, 2022, abortions and abortion counseling were excluded from the medical benefits package, with no exceptions.”

According to estimates from nonprofit National Partnership for Women and Families, more than 400,000 women veterans lived in states that already had an abortion ban in place or were likely to ban it in 2023. That figure represents more than half of the women veterans in the country.

Public comment on the proposed rule will be accepted until Sept. 3.