Trump administration sued by veterans group over VA abortion ban

A veterans advocacy group is suing the Trump administration over its ban on abortion care and counseling at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). 

The Minority Veterans of America said it brought the lawsuit on behalf of all its members harmed by the ban, including one pregnant member who has chronic medical conditions and a long history of pregnancy complications and needs access to abortion care and counseling to protect her health.  

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. 

The lawsuit argues that the Trump administration violated the Administrative Procedures Act when the VA revoked a Biden-era legal opinion that allowed the VA to provide limited abortion counseling and services to pregnant veterans and their beneficiaries, including those who become pregnant as a result of rape or incest.  

According to the complaint, the “VA failed to provide any explanation—let alone a reasoned explanation—for disregarding its previous factual findings addressing veterans’ need for abortion care, and … failed to address significant comments.” 

The 2022 Biden administration policy allowed abortions for those who became pregnant as a result of rape or incest or if a pregnancy endangered the “life and health” of the person seeking an abortion. The VA did not cover abortions before 2022. 

The VA in December quietly reimplemented the ban following a memo authored by Joshua Craddock, deputy assistant attorney general of the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel, issued Dec. 18 that concluded the VA may not provide abortion services under any provision of the law.   

The VA abortion ban applies across all states, regardless of the state’s abortion access laws. 

“I wish I felt excited about this pregnancy, but instead I feel terrified,” the anonymous service member being represented in the lawsuit said in a statement provided by the National Women’s Law Center, whose lawyers are serving as co-counsel in the case along with attorneys from the legal advocacy group Democracy Forward. 

“VA’s ban on abortion care and counseling is a direct threat to my health and my ability to parent my existing children and a betrayal of the sacrifices I have made for my country,” the service member said.     

According to the complaint, the veteran had not intended to become pregnant and had recently been advised by one of her doctors that she likely did not have the capacity to become pregnant naturally.

Her first-trimester pregnancy is “already exacerbating existing health conditions,” the complaint stated, and “there is a substantial risk” she will need to terminate her pregnancy to preserve her health.