WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — The Trump administration has revoked a Biden-era abortion rule allowing veterans to undergo abortions under the guise of “medical care.”

“The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is proposing to reinstate the full exclusion on abortions and abortion counseling from the medical benefits package, which was removed in 2022,” announced the VA on Friday.

“Before that time, this exclusion had been firmly in place since the medical benefits package was first established in 1999,” continued the explanation published in the Federal Register. “VA is also proposing to reinstate the exclusions on abortion and abortion counseling for Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) that were removed in 2022.” 

“We take this action to ensure that VA provides only needed medical services to our nation’s heroes and their families,” noted the VA.  

As a matter of law, it is without question that VA has the authority to bar provision of abortion services through the VA medical benefits package to veterans. From 1999 until 2022 that is in fact what VA did. It was not until 2022 when the VA Secretary reversed this course. The stated reason for doing so was a reaction to a Supreme Court decision, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, 142 S. Ct. 2228 (2022), that itself was intended to prevent federal overreach and return to States control over the provision of abortion services. Yet, the last administration used Dobbs to do the exact opposite of preventing overreach, creating a purported Federal entitlement to abortion for veterans where none had existed before and without regard to State law. In doing so, the administration predicted a high demand for VA abortions that never materialized.

“The Biden administration’s abortion rule at the VA broke long-standing federal law and should have never been implemented in the first place,” said Sen. James Lankford, (R–Oklahoma).

“Reversing it sends a clear message: Government should protect life, not take it, and under President Trump, the mission of the VA is to serve veterans with dignity and care — not advance a political agenda,” added Lankford. 

“It was wrong that the Biden administration violated settled law in 2022 and began offering abortion services through VA. We pushed back hard on this disastrous policy over the last two years to hold the Biden-Harris administration accountable and protect the lives of the unborn,” declared GOP members of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs in a joint statement. 

“It’s simple – taxpayers do not want their hard-earned money spent on paying for abortions – and VA’s sole focus should always be providing service-connected health care and benefits to the veterans they serve,” they added.  

“This marks yet another major pro-life victory under President Trump’s leadership, building on a series of decisive actions, including the recent passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act which stopped forced taxpayer funding of Big Abortion,” noted the pro-life organization Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (SBA) in statement. 

“Instead of prioritizing the real and urgent needs of our veterans, the Biden-Harris Administration turned VA hospitals into abortion centers – violating longstanding law and betraying the will of the American people who strongly oppose forced taxpayer-funded abortions,” continued SBA. “Veterans deserve compassionate care and healing and should not be subjected to the violence of abortion. The American people should never have been made to bankroll it. Thankfully this injustice is now corrected.”