{"id":438668,"date":"2026-01-28T13:07:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T13:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/438668\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T13:07:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T13:07:23","slug":"a-near-total-abortion-ban-within-the-department-of-veterans-affairs-could-put-womens-health-at-risk-according-to-doctors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/438668\/","title":{"rendered":"A near-total abortion ban within the Department of Veterans Affairs could put women\u2019s health at risk, according to doctors"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n As a combat medic with the Army National Guard<\/a> more than a decade ago, Lauren Feringa says she was exposed to toxins from burning oil fields during the Iraq War.\n <\/p>\n

\n A few years later, as a civilian contractor in Afghanistan, she says she suffered from concussive blasts, including a vehicle explosion near the gate of a military base where she was working.\n <\/p>\n

\n When she returned to the US, Feringa believes those injuries and others suffered in military service contributed to complications when trying to start a family. While she carried two children to term, she says she underwent three abortions covered by the Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a> because doctors determined the fetuses weren\u2019t viable and her health was in danger.\n <\/p>\n

\n She\u2019s not sure what she would do today. The Department of Veterans Affairs imposed a near-total ban on abortion with a new rule<\/a> quietly published on New Year\u2019s Eve. The policy rolls back access to abortion in most cases \u2013 even in cases of rape and incest and only allowing the procedure in cases where the mother\u2019s life is at risk.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThis is all insane,\u201d says Feringa, who has retired from the Army National Guard and Reserves and has been an outspoken critic of the VA but also says the system helped her through difficult periods. \u201cWomen have to be the only authority over what goes on with their bodies.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cYou\u2019re not going to provide care for a woman who\u2019s been raped?\u201d she added. \u201cIt seems dystopian.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Veterans are now one of the latest fronts in the fight over abortion rights. VA medical professionals and reproductive rights advocates have decried the latest rollback in access to abortions in the United States, and Democrats in Congress have introduced legislation that would restore authorization for abortion and abortion counseling\u202fin the VA health system.\n <\/p>\n

\n Opponents to the new policy point out that women veterans who use the VA system for reproductive care are more restricted and have fewer options for abortion services than women who are incarcerated in federal prisons.\n <\/p>\n

\n They also note the high rate of sexual assault in the military. In 2023, the most recent year for which statistics are available, an estimated 7% of women servicemembers had experienced unwanted sexual contact in the past year, a category that includes sexual assault, according to a Pentagon survey<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe idea that VA would deny abortion care even in cases of rape \u2013 to me that\u2019s disgusting,\u201d said Rachel Fey, interim Co-CEO of the group Power to Decide, a reproductive rights advocacy group.\u202fFey calls the new VA ban \u201cdevastating\u201d and \u201cdisrespectful\u201d to women who have put their lives on the line for their country.\n <\/p>\n

\n Asked by CNN why the VA changed the policy, agency spokesman Peter Kasperowicz noted in a statement that \u201cthe Department of Justice issued an opinion that states VA is not legally authorized to provide abortions.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n According to the VA\u2019s new rule, the Justice Department opinion<\/a> says that procedures necessary to save the life of a pregnant veteran are not considered abortions under relevant federal law \u201cand therefore remain permissible.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Kasperowicz did not elaborate on why the policy was changed with regard to rape and incest.\n <\/p>\n

\n VA Secretary Doug Collins is set to appear Wednesday on Capitol Hill for a hearing on VA health care, where he is expected to field questions about the new abortion policy.\n <\/p>\n

\"WASHINGTON,<\/p>\n

\n In the wake of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced<\/a> that, regardless of state laws, it would provide abortions when a pregnant veteran\u2019s life or health was at risk if their pregnancy were carried to term, or if the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest.\n <\/p>\n

\n It was one of several moves taken by the Biden administration to expand abortion rights both at the VA and beyond as several Republican-led states enacted strict abortion laws.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Biden-era policy allowed the VA to perform abortion services in some cases when health risks to the mother\u202fwere not necessarily life-threatening, such as renal disorders, hypertension, and certain mental health problems.\n <\/p>\n

\n A VA official called the Biden-era policy a \u201cpolitically-motivated change.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n With the Trump administration\u2019s new policy, the department will now authorize abortions only in cases of ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages or if a doctor determines the mother\u2019s life is endangered if she carries the fetus to term.\n <\/p>\n

\n That\u2019s in contrast to the Bureau of Prisons policy, which states that federal funds can be used for abortions when the pregnancy endangers the woman\u2019s life or is the result of rape or incest.\n <\/p>\n

\n The new VA policy is effective immediately, and the department says it applies to all VA health care facilities, including those in states where abortions are legal under state law.\n <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\n Some doctors and nurses who work in the VA health system have balked at the new policy.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019s frustrating to not be able to provide health care to patients, that I\u2019m being told what I can and cannot do by someone who has no medical knowledge. The people making these rules \u2013 they\u2019re not clinicians,\u201d an OB-GYN doctor, who asked to remain anonymous because they are still employed in the VA system, told CNN.\n <\/p>\n

\n The doctor fears that some veteran women who need abortions won\u2019t get them because VA providers \u201cwill be afraid to render this care.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n In some cases, VA physicians might determine a woman\u2019s condition isn\u2019t life-threatening enough to authorize an abortion, the OB-GYN said, worried they \u201cwill keep pushing women veterans to \u2018come back when you\u2019re worse. You\u2019re not sick enough.\u2019\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cPatients will die,\u201d the doctor said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Another doctor in the VA system who also declined to be named for fear of retaliation worries about a chilling effect from the new ban on abortion counseling.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIf they want to make guideline-based and evidence-based recommendations, in her best interests, now they\u2019ll think twice about that,\u201d the doctor said of VA physicians who treat female patients.\n <\/p>\n

\n This doctor pointed to a recent patient, a woman veteran who had experienced military sexual trauma and sought care at the VA. The new rule \u201ccertainly put fear in my mind \u2013 and in the minds of other clinicians who were treating her,\u201d the doctor said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Jackii Wang, senior legislative analyst for the National Women\u2019s Law Center, which advocates for abortion rights, said: \u201cWhen we think of the number of women veterans who have suffered military sexual trauma, it\u2019s unconscionable that the administration would implement a policy like this.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt really impacts their faith in their health care system,\u201d Wang said of women veterans she\u2019s spoken to about the new VA abortion policy.\n <\/p>\n

\n National Nurses United, a labor union that represents about 13,500 nurses at nearly two dozen VA facilities across the country, has strongly denounced the new abortion ban.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThis misogynistic, dangerous, and discriminatory policy will cause immeasurable harm and violates the nursing ethics nurses pledge to uphold,\u201d the group said in a statement to CNN. \u201cIt is the utmost in hypocrisy that this administration thanks veterans for putting their bodies on the line, but then strips them of their bodily autonomy, self-determination, and dignity by refusing basic health care.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The move is drawing condemnation from some Democrats in Congress \u2013 and praise from some Republicans.\n <\/p>\n

\"Rep.<\/p>\n

\n Rep. Julia Brownley, a California Democrat and member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, has introduced a bill that would add abortion and abortion counseling as services provided under law. The bill has no Republican co-signers and is unlikely to pass. A separate effort from Senate Democrats to overturn the rule was launched Tuesday.\n <\/p>\n

\n Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a combat-wounded veteran, current member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and a former assistant secretary of veterans affairs in the Obama administration, said in a statement: \u201cIn cases of rape, incest or when the health of the mother is at risk, Trump is denying our heroes the care they\u2019ve earned through their service.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"Sen.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cOur Veterans risked their lives to safeguard our freedoms. And yet a man who has never served a day in his life is taking away their own freedom to choose what\u2019s best for their health,\u201d said the Illinois Democrat, who still gets her medical care through the VA.\n <\/p>\n

\n Rep. Mark Takano, a California Democrat and ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, called the move \u201cdraconian\u201d and said, \u201cThis cruel and dangerous move will harm veterans and damages trust in the very system that is supposed to protect them and serve their healthcare needs.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"Rep.<\/p>\n

\n But Republican Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran, chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, praised the administration for returning to the pre-Biden policy to \u201cprotect the unborn.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Republican Rep. Mike Bost of Illinois, the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said it was \u201cwrong that the Biden administration violated settled law in 2022 and began offering abortion services through the VA.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"Rep.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019s simple \u2013 taxpayers do not want their hard-earned money spent on paying for abortions \u2013 and the VA\u2019s sole focus should always be providing service-connected health care and benefits to veterans they serve,\u201d Bost said.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As a combat medic with the Army National Guard more than a decade ago, Lauren Feringa says she…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":438669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,84,392],"class_list":["post-438668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=438668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/438669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=438668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=438668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=438668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}