An advocacy group filed suit against the Trump administration over a Veterans Affairs rule that, according to the complaint, reinstates near-ban abortion limits for veterans and some family members who receive healthcare through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The lawsuit, filed Thursday, seeks to have the rule finalized by the VA on Dec. 31 thrown out by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Minority Veterans of America, the group behind the case, said the rule takes away limited abortion access that it described as “crucial for the health, autonomy, and equality of veterans and their family members.” The suit argues the VA adopted the change without citing medical evidence or other justifications, which the group said violates the Administrative Procedures Act governing federal rulemaking.
The VA had not included abortion in its coverage until 2022, according to the complaint. The lawsuit says the Biden administration added abortion access months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and states’ abortion bans began taking effect, with the coverage limited to situations where a pregnant woman’s life or health was at risk, or in cases of rape or incest.
The Biden-era approach, as described in the filing, allowed the VA to provide abortion even in states where abortion was barred. The lawsuit said those limited services brought VA coverage in line with other federal healthcare plans, including Medicaid and Tricare coverage for active military service members and their families, which the complaint said also allow limited abortion access.
The VA announced a proposal to undo the Biden-era change last August, a few months after President Donald Trump returned to the White House. In the complaint, the group said the VA said it would still provide abortions when a pregnant woman’s life was threatened, which state laws could allow even where bans otherwise apply.
But the suit says the VA no longer allows exceptions for abortions in cases of rape, incest or to protect a pregnant woman’s health, and it says abortion counseling is also no longer allowed. The group’s complaint characterizes the reinstated limits as a rollback from the narrower access the VA provided under the Biden administration.
A VA spokesperson declined to comment, noting that the agency typically does not comment on pending litigation, according to the reporting. Minority Veterans of America said it represents more than 3,600 members across the United States.
In a statement, Lindsay Church, the group’s executive director, said the group’s “community includes veterans with complex medical histories, those who have experienced pregnancy complications, and survivors of sexual violence and trauma, all of whom need access to abortion care and counseling to protect their health.” The lawsuit argues that limiting access in those circumstances can put veterans’ health at risk.
The complaint also describes an unnamed veteran, whose lawsuit identifies her only to protect her privacy. The filing says she learned she was pregnant in early May and has chronic pain that the suit says has been exacerbated by the pregnancy, placing her health “at substantial risk.” It says the VA would not allow her to receive an abortion “even if her health is at risk, unless a provider determines an abortion is necessary to save her life,” in line with the limits the group says the VA reinstated.
In December, the VA said in publishing its final rule that it was restoring the agency’s longstanding position that abortions were not “needed” under federal law, and that the change did not prohibit providing life-saving care to pregnant veterans. The lawsuit’s challenge would ask the court to discard the VA’s Dec. 31 rule.
VA did not include abortion in its coverage until 2022, the complaint said. But the group argues the Dec. 31 rule eliminates access beyond life-threatening situations, narrowing the exceptions compared with what it said the VA provided under Biden-era policy.
For now, the case turns on whether the VA followed the Administrative Procedures Act when it finalized the regulation, the group’s attorneys said, and whether the court will agree to overturn it.