VA ends nearly all abortion procedures at medical centers

The Department of Veterans Affairs has ended nearly all abortions at VA facilities, returning to a pre-2022 policy that requires patients seeking the procedure to go outside the department for care.

The VA issued a final rule Dec. 31 that prohibits the procedure at VA medical facilities unless the life of the mother is endangered. The decision ends a policy implemented in September 2022 that allowed VA medical personnel to conduct abortions in cases of rape or incest or circumstances that endangered the life or health of the patient.

The policy was instituted shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, landmark legislation that legalized abortions nationwide. Since the decision, 25 states have outlawed or restricted abortion services, leading federal medical providers to consider their role in providing abortion services to their beneficiaries.

The VA issued an interim rule in August that effectively halted all abortion procedures at VA medical facilities. Democrat lawmakers drew attention to the final rule last week, however, by introducing a resolution to overturn the rule.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and other congressional Democrats have sponsored a resolution seeking to overturn the rule.

During a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing Wednesday, Murray and Sen. Maisie Hirono, D-Hawaii., questioned VA Secretary Doug Collins on the change, decrying a policy that limits a medical procedure for 460,000 women veterans of reproductive age.

“VA providers are not even allowed to discuss abortion as an option with veteran patients,” Murray said. “I just want everyone to know that, under this VA final rule, no exceptions for rape or for incest. And I find that outrageous.”

Collins pushed back, noting that in medical emergencies where the life of a mother is endangered, the patient would still have access to the procedure. He added that the policy is simply a return to the VA’s regulations before 2022 under administrations of Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

Murray said when former VA Secretary Denis McDonough introduced the policy allowing for abortions, he “rightfully [made] sure if someone was raped or a victim of incest, they could get health care.”

“We probably see it differently,” Collins responded.

The previous regulation also allowed abortion coverage for patients in the VA’s Civilian Health and Medical Program, or CHAMPVA, the program that provides medical care for eligible spouses and dependents of veterans.

The new policy prohibits CHAMPVA coverage of abortions.

Between September 2022 and August 2025, the VA had covered or provided abortions to roughly 100 veterans and 40 CHAMPVA patients, according to data provided by the VA.

Last September, after the VA published its interim rule reversing the policy, Republican lawmakers praised the move, writing Collins in support of the decision.

In a letter signed by 72 representatives and senators, they said the VA had erred in giving access to the procedure on the basis of a pregnancy jeopardizing a veteran’s health.

“Without a narrower definition or gestational limit for this health exception, the VA has been promoting abortion on demand, at any point during pregnancy, so long as the mother-patient is able to secure a medical professional’s opinion that having an abortion would be ‘beneficial’ to her health in any way,” they wrote.