Abortion services will soon be included in health care benefits for veterans and family members, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced Friday.
The VA submitted an interim rule to the Federal Register that allows the VA to provide abortion counseling and abortions for pregnant veterans and beneficiaries, a Friday press release said. Abortions may specifically be performed when the health of the mother is at risk or when a pregnancy results from rape or incest.
“This is a patient safety decision,” said Denis McDonough, Secretary of Veterans Affairs. “Pregnant Veterans and VA beneficiaries deserve to have access to world-class reproductive care when they need it most. That's what our nation owes them, and that's what we at VA will deliver.”
The VA's Undersecretary for Health, Dr. Shereef Elnahal, stated the new policy aligns with “generally accepted standards of medical practice,” according to the VA press release. “We came to this decision after listening to VA health care providers and Veterans across the country, who sounded the alarm that abortion restrictions are creating a medical emergency for those we serve,” Elnahal said. “Offering this care will save Veterans' health and lives, and there is nothing more important than that.”
Decisions to abort based on the life and health of the mother will be case-by-case and follow “careful consultation between VA health care providers and the Veterans they serve,” the press release reads. A veteran's or beneficiary's self-reporting will “constitute sufficient evidence that an act of rape or incest has occurred,” ostensibly justifying abortion in these circumstances.
According to a 2004 survey conducted by the Guttmacher Institute, less than .05% of post-abortive women listed rape as a reason for having an abortion. Additional state data further indicates the rarity of rape and incest as motivation for having an abortion. Of the 74,868 abortions that took place in Florida in 2020, only 0.01% of pregnancies resulted from an incestuous relationship. Rape was listed in 0.15% of pregnancies that ended in abortion, and just 0.02% of abortions in Florida took place because the woman's life was in danger.
Approximately 700 women die each year in the United States as a result of pregnancy or delivery complications, according to the CDC. A myriad of pregnancy symptoms and complications may impact a pregnant woman and her baby, ranging from physical to mental. Many “are mild and do not progress,” the CDC states.
If the above statistics were accurate reflections of the reasons that U.S. women seek abortion, then the VA's new policy should apply to a strikingly limited number of women veterans. Only 1.5% of women in America are veterans, according to the Department of Labor. In order to meet one female veteran, you may have to meet 69 women, the DOL notes. The VA's new policy is the first time that abortions will be performed on federal property, even in states where abortion has been restricted or banned following the reversal of Roe v. Wade. “In response, VA is acting to help ensure that, irrespective of what laws or policies States may impose, veterans who receive the care set forth in the medical benefits package will be able to obtain abortions, if determined needed by a health care professional, when the life or the health of the pregnant veteran would be endangered if the pregnancy were carried to term or the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest,” the VA interim rule states.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
READ NEXT: Kansans Vote No, Set Stage for November Elections >>
No. (from ex Vet)
This should not be a problem, if the abortions are restricted to those that are medically necessary, for example, removal of an ectopic pregnancy.
My concern is that rabid abortionists will claim that perfectly healthy pregnancies are dangerous to a mother’s health (which is the rationale for birth-control abortions) as a cover to commit abortion on demand.
As a veteran, I do not want my doctors at the VA to be involved in the abortion industry in any fashion. I want my doctors to respect human life.
One factor that might limit the number of abortionists who seek employment at the VA is that they generally do abortions for the profit. Doctors at the VA are salaried, so the likelihood of making big profits from pushing abortion at the VA is low.
Although mothers health risk is a good reason I remind that the Supreme Court made abortion a State issue. Not for a Federal institution like the VA ! ???
Never should taxpayer money be used for this.
Like in the 70s abortions were going to be rare and infrequent. does anyone believe the government anymore or their decisions
The VA doesn’t treat Vets service connected injuries, usually saying the Vets issues have no service ties, but they can provide abortions? Just how the h*ll is pregnancy a service connected illness/injury? Especially since it can be prevented.
As the V.A, is a Federal agency, how is it that it can circumvent the law of the land and do abortions. I worked in an O.R. for decades and saw very few ectopic pregnancies. This is just an end run around the law. An end run we get to pay for AGAIN! Veterans have served this nation and are heroes for doing so.They also have benefits for them and their families. Not sure why this is an adendum. Abortion is now illegal in most states. Guess if the VA in your state is doing abortions , being a Federal run organization they are breaking the law. In Biden land that is the norm.