"A sign marks the location of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs headquarters building on April 24, 2025, in Washington, D.C. J. David Ake / Getty Images Defenders of reproductive rights on Tuesday responded with alarm after President Donald Trump's administration quietly imposed an abortion ban at the US Department of Veterans Affairs following a legal opinion penned by a deputy assistant attorney general."
"Although that rule hasn't taken effect, the US Department of Justice last week issued a memo in which Joshua Craddock of the Office of Legal Counsel concludes that the 2022 policy wasn't legally valid. The VA on Monday issued its own internal memo - obtained by the legal group Democracy Forward and reported by MS NOW - announcing immediate compliance with the DOJ's opinion, effectively implementing the proposed rule without finishing the formal process for doing so."
Federal officials moved to curtail abortion access within the Department of Veterans Affairs after a Justice Department legal opinion found the 2022 VA policy legally invalid. The 2022 policy had allowed abortion counseling and care for service members and beneficiaries in cases of rape, incest, or serious threats to health. The VA proposed a rule to remove those exceptions while continuing treatment for ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages and allowing abortion only when a physician certifies the mother's life is endangered. The VA issued an internal memo announcing immediate compliance with the DOJ opinion before completing the formal regulatory process.
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