Overview
- VA press secretary Peter Kasperowicz said the department has stopped providing abortions and abortion counseling immediately, preserving only care needed to save a patient’s life such as treatment for ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages.
- The policy applies across all VA facilities and CHAMPVA coverage in every state, affecting millions of beneficiaries, including more than 2.1 million women veterans and over 700,000 family members.
- The change follows an Office of Legal Counsel opinion by Deputy Assistant Attorney General Joshua Craddock that withdrew the 2022 Biden‑era interpretation permitting limited abortions and counseling.
- VA implemented the shift through an internal Dec. 22 memo rather than waiting for a final regulation, while an August proposed rule to restore the full exclusion remains pending after more than 24,000 public comments.
- Reproductive‑rights organizations and veterans’ advocates denounced the move as a de facto national ban for veterans, and Democrats including Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Rep. Mark Takano criticized the policy as harmful to veterans’ health.