Hundreds of active-duty and retired service members have pleaded with Donald Trump’s administration to stop a far-reaching plan to end abortion care and counseling for American veterans.
The proposal would eliminate access to this medical care for veterans through the federal government’s health system, even in instances of rape, incest or to protect the health of the patient — coverage that has been available to veterans and their beneficiaries for nearly three years.
The rule change would apply to all those receiving care through the Department of Veterans Affairs, even those living in more than a dozen states where abortion care is legally protected and a constitutional right.
More than 20,000 people submitted public comments in response to the rule change — including thousands of objections from veterans, their family members and abortion rights advocates.
“I am a veteran of the US Army and if this rule was in place I wouldn’t have joined,” one person wrote.
“[As] an Army brat, military spouse, and miscarriage survivor, give our soldiers HEALTHCARE!” another person wrote.
“As [a] veteran of the Marine Corps, having these medical procedures available gave me the option to stay combat ready,” another said. “How dare you take that right away from our women in uniform.”
One Navy veteran said she is “utterly appalled” by the rule change.
“This seems more like an ideological decision than one based on facts and science,” she wrote. “Reproductive healthcare includes the overall well-being of the female body. … Has the VA decided that the wellbeing of women no longer matters? Was my service to my country for naught?”
“Abhorrent and disgraceful,” one anonymous Army service member wrote. “Letting a bunch of old, white, male ghouls strip away women’s healthcare. What healthcare organizations endorse this? I’m getting out of the Army next year. I can’t take this disgusting bull*** anymore. America is not free.”
Three months after the Supreme Court revoked a constitutional right to abortion care in 2022, by overturning the landmark ruling in Roe v Wade, then-President Joe Biden allowed the VA to provide abortion services for veterans and beneficiaries on federal property, even in states where abortion was outlawed. Advocates hailed the move as a lifeline for coverage.
The rule has also allowed VA physicians to discuss abortion options or referrals with patients for the first time.
A spokesperson for the VA told The Independent Wednesday that the Biden-era rule was “politically motivated.”
Prior to the rule change, “federal law and longstanding precedent across Democrat and Republican administrations prevented VA from providing abortions and abortion counseling,” the spokesperson added.
“VA’s proposed rule will reinstate the pre-Biden bipartisan policy, bringing the department back in line with historical norms.”
The Trump administration claims that the rule change will not prevent physicians from providing life-saving abortion care in cases of ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages, since other provisions within the law already mandate those protections.
But the proposal also states that “claims in the prior administration’s rule that abortions throughout pregnancy are needed to save the lives of pregnant women” are “incorrect.”
The Trump administration also claims there isn’t any demand for abortion care. Roughly 100 veterans and 40 beneficiaries received abortion care through VA medical centers since the policy change, according to government data.
“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,” said Skye Perryman, president of legal advocacy group, Democracy Forward, which represents the nonprofit Minority Veterans of America.
“It flies in the face of every claim the Trump-Vance administration has made about caring for veterans,” she said in a statement Wednesday. “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.”
Minority Veterans of America director Lindsay Church said the rule change is “especially chilling” in the face of reports of sexual assaults at VA facilities, “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,” she added.
There are at least 2 million women veterans in the U.S., the fastest-growing group of veterans, according to the VA. As of 2024, more than half of women veterans of reproductive age lived in states that banned abortion or faced severe restrictions, according to the National Partnership for Women and Families.
Last year, enrollment of women veterans in VA health care increased in every state, including significant increases in Texas, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina — states where abortion is effectively outlawed.
