Padilla, Schiff Join Democratic Colleagues in Demanding the VA Rescind Draconian Abortion Care Ban for Veterans

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff (both D-Calif.) joined Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and 27 other Senate Democrats in calling on U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins to immediately rescind the VA's extreme, cruel new policy that bans the VA from providing abortion counseling and care to veterans, even in cases of rape, incest, and health endangerment. In their letter, the Senators lambasted the Trump Administration for continuing to betray brave American heroes. 

"Our Veterans put their lives on the line to safeguard our freedoms, yet you and President Trump - who has never served a day in his life - are denying our heroes the care they have earned," wrote the Senators. "Refusing to provide abortion care in cases of rape and incest is cruel and can compound existing mental health conditions for Veterans, who are already at an elevated risk for experiencing sexual assault and rape." 

The Senators also highlighted how this decision would effectively deny abortion care to veterans living in states with abortion restrictions or bans. 

"Women are the fastest growing segment of the Veteran population and approximately 462,000 women Veterans of reproductive age are enrolled in VA healthcare," continued the Senators. "More than half of these women Veterans live in states with abortion bans or restrictions. … the VA might have been their only opportunity to access urgently needed abortion care." 

In addition to Padilla, Schiff, Duckworth, Hirono, Murray, and Warren, the letter is also signed by Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

The letter is endorsed by the Service Women's Action Network (SWAN), Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Guttmacher, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), SPARTA, National Women's Law Center (NWLC), and Modern Military Association of America. 

Senator Padilla has been a longstanding champion for veterans' health care. Last year, Padilla hosted a roundtable with Representative Mike Levin (D-Calif.-49) in San Diego alongside VA service providers to highlight the importance of protecting veterans' benefits and discuss concerns regarding the Trump Administration's plan for mass cuts to the VA workforce.

In December, Padilla, Schiff, Representative Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.-12), and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.-11) demanded answers from Secretary Collins about the VA's decision to unilaterally cancel the construction of a Community Based Outpatient Clinic in Alameda, California.

Full text of the letter is available here and below:  

Dear Secretary Collins: 

We write to express our extreme concern regarding your final rule ("Reproductive Health Services," 90 FR 61310) banning the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from providing abortion counseling and care to Veterans and their families including in cases of rape, incest or health endangerment. In light of the devastating harm this will cause to Veterans and their loved ones, especially those living in states with extreme abortion bans, we urge you to rescind this policy without delay. 

Women are the fastest growing segment of the Veteran population and approximately 462,000 women Veterans of reproductive age are enrolled in VA healthcare. More than half of these women Veterans live in states with abortion bans or restrictions. Further, about 62,000 reproductive-age women enrolled in the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) also live in such states. 

In response to the devastating Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling in 2022, which erroneously overturned the nearly five decades of precedent establishing a constitutional right to abortion, VA promulgated an interim final rule allowing the Department to offer abortion counseling and abortion care in cases of rape, incest, life or health endangerment of the pregnant Veteran or CHAMPVA beneficiary. For Veterans living in abortion ban states, this rulemaking acknowledged that the VA might have been their only opportunity to access urgently needed abortion care. It also removed the Department's full, no-exceptions ban on abortion care and counseling. VA finalized this rule in March 2024. 

The United States is facing a healthcare crisis. This is especially true for Veterans living in states that are hostile to abortion who depend on their local VA facility for their healthcare. As such, we were disturbed by your August 2025 decision to publish a proposed rule to reinstate the ban on abortions and abortion counseling at VA-a failure for all who have served our country. We were similarly concerned by the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) December 2025 slip opinion memo rolling back this essential healthcare and VA's subsequent internal directive to comply with the DOJ opinion immediately. VA took these actions before issuing its final rule regarding this policy change, which VA published on December 31, 2025. 

Veterans are particularly vulnerable to health complications during pregnancy and are at higher risk of certain factors associated with maternal morbidity and mortality compared to non-Veterans. For example, in 2024, the Government Accountability Office reported that mental health conditions, such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are more common among pregnant Veterans than non-pregnant Veterans and pregnant women in the general population. These conditions may put Veterans at increased risk for gestational diabetes and hypertensive disorders such as preeclampsia-a pregnancy-related high blood pressure disorder that can lead to the onset of seizures or coma. Providing abortion care only when, purportedly, Veterans' lives are in danger and forcing VA providers to decipher this uncodified policy on their own, fails to address pregnant Veterans' health risks in such situations. Your chaotic, unclear and negligent directive will require VA providers to make the impossible determination of whether a Veteran is close enough to death to be covered under the "threat to life" exception before providing needed medical care. 

Refusing to provide abortion care in cases of rape and incest is cruel and can compound existing mental health conditions for Veterans, who are already at an elevated risk for experiencing sexual assault and rape. An estimated one in three women Veterans report experiencing sexual assault or harassment while serving in the military, and military sexual trauma is associated with a range of mental health and other medical conditions that can result in devastating maternal health outcomes. 

Before your cruel change to VA's abortion policy, the Department allowed abortion care only in certain, limited circumstances. Your policy will now ban VA providers from even discussing abortion with their Veteran patients. It will block pregnant Veterans whose health is in danger, or who are survivors of rape or incest, from getting the basic counseling or care that they need and deserve. 

Our Veterans put their lives on the line to safeguard our freedoms, yet you and President Trump -who has never served a day in his life-are denying our heroes the care they have earned. Implementing this shameful and indefensible policy over the winter holidays, without public notice, and before finalizing your proposed rule adds further insult to injury. We vehemently oppose your actions and demand the final rule, the DOJ slip opinion and VA's internal directive be rescinded immediately. 

Sincerely, 

###