Washington, DC - Yesterday, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) used the cover of the holiday season to issue an internal memorandum reinstating a near-total ban on abortions and abortion counseling, ripping away access to healthcare from thousands of veterans. This cruel and dangerous move will harm veterans and damages trust in the very system that is supposed to protect them and serve their healthcare needs. Rather than waiting to finalize a proposed regulation on abortion care, VA took this action after receiving a December 18, 2025, Department of Justice legal opinion. This legally suspect policy decision reverses previous steps taken by VA under the Biden administration to ensure veterans received full access to a range of reproductive healthcare.

In the wake of the Dobbs decision, VA under the Biden administration immediately took regulatory action to preserve veterans' access to necessary healthcare, publishing a rule that provided veterans access to abortion care in instances of rape, incest, and threat to life or health. VA also lifted a longstanding gag rule-allowing VA providers to discuss abortion with patients who were experiencing unwanted or high-risk pregnancies and pregnancy complications. Because veterans are more likely to experience complicated or high-risk pregnancies due to their service, this regulation was critical to ensuring their health and safety.

However, in August of this year, the Trump administration took its first steps to undo this progress, threatening veterans' reproductive freedom and access to comprehensive healthcare. VA proposed a rule to reinstate a near-total ban on abortions and abortion counseling, with no exceptions in the case of rape, incest, or threat to health. This reversal will mean veterans have less access to abortion care than individuals covered by every other federal healthcare program, all of which at least cover this essential care in instances of rape, incest, and threat to life.

Democratic members of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs are calling on the Trump administration to reverse this cruel decision and preserve veterans' access to a full range of reproductive healthcare, including abortion and abortion counseling, through the VA.

"The Trump administration's dangerous decision to roll back VA's already limited abortion access is clearly driven by politics, not patient care," said Congresswoman Julia Brownley (CA-26), Ranking Member of the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Health. "Denying women veterans access to essential reproductive care leaves doctors constrained from acting in their patients' best interests, and patients at risk of preventable and health-threatening complications. Veterans' access to health care should not shift with each administration, and women veterans should never be treated as collateral damage in political fights. To stop political interference in critical, life-saving medical care, I introduced the Reproductive Freedom for Veterans Act to safeguard women veterans' access to reproductive health services. My Democratic colleagues and I are committed to ensuring that the VA delivers consistent, comprehensive care to all veterans - based on medical need, not political ideology."

Brownley's House Committee on Veterans' Affairs colleagues also voiced their staunch opposition to the final rule.

"As a country, we made a solemn promise to honor veterans' service and ensure they receive the healthcare they have earned. Veterans should be able to trust that promise and know they can walk into a VA medical center and receive the care they need," said Ranking Member Takano. "Instead of trusting veterans to make the healthcare decisions that are best for them, VA is allowing political opinion to supplant its duty to veterans. Instead of allowing veterans to discuss all their healthcare options openly and honestly with their providers, VA has decided that the government should be in charge of making healthcare decisions, even in matters of life and death. And instead of fulfilling its duty to provide needed healthcare to veterans, VA has refused to acknowledge the unique and complex healthcare needs of veterans who are more likely to have complex health conditions that can increase the risks associated with pregnancy. Veterans fought for our rights. Now it's our responsibility to fight for theirs."

"You can't thank a veteran for putting her body on the line for this country, then turn around and take away her right to control it. There is nothing patriotic about denying our nation's heroes the care they deserve and the ability to determine their own futures," said Congressman Morgan McGarvey (KY-03).

"These actions are appalling. Women veterans put their lives on the line to defend our freedoms - now the Trump Administration is taking these very freedoms away," said Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (IL-03). "Veterans step up to serve on the promise that we will take care of them when they come home - and that care should include the full reproductive services that women need to stay healthy. As a member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, I will fight back against this dangerous ban."

"The Trump administration is taking away health care from veterans and their families who have served our country. They're blocking access for veterans without even providing exceptions for rape or incest, interfering in deeply personal medical decisions," said Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01). "VA is the only place some veterans can obtain counseling and reproductive care, so I will continue to do everything I can to fight this ban because extreme politicians should stay out of other people's health care."

"For years, our brave women in uniform put their lives on the line to defend the freedoms of every single American, but now the VA is refusing to do the same for them," said Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20). "VA's new abortion ban is an attack on a woman's fundamental right to bodily autonomy. But make no mistake - we will win this fight - in congress, in the courts, and in our communities."

"We are seeing yet another heartless decision by the Trump administration to rip away healthcare from the American people, and this time from those who have put their lives on the line for our country. Our veterans deserve full access to timely, comprehensive medical care that allows them to live dignified lives. This abortion ban and any rollback of veterans' healthcare undermines the mission of the VA, and House Democrats will not stand by and let this administration deny our veterans the care and respect they've earned through their service," said Congressman Tim Kennedy (NY-26).

"The Trump Administration is choosing to put veterans' lives at risk by restricting their access to essential health care. It is dangerous, and it is wrong. This is a betrayal of the promise we make to veterans that we will care for them after they put their lives on the line for us. As an American and as a physician who has cared for patients at the VA, I am outraged. I urge the Trump Administration and VA leadership to immediately reverse this harmful decision and uphold their commitment to veterans," said Congresswoman Kelly Morrison, M.D. (MN-03), an OBGYN for more than 20 years.

"As a physician, I trained at the VA, where a sign at the entrance read: 'The price of freedom is visible here.' Our veterans sacrificed everything for this country, and in return, we promised them the best care possible. Denying veterans access to abortion is a profound betrayal of that promise. On the House Veterans Affairs Committee, I will fight relentlessly to reverse this ban and ensure veterans receive the full spectrum of reproductive freedom," said Congresswoman Maxine Dexter, M.D. (OR-03).

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Issues: 119th Congress, Healthcare, Veterans' Affairs