Veterans Affairs plans to remove abortion services from its medical coverage – KWQC
(Gray News) – The Department of Veterans Affairs said it plans to remove abortion and related healthcare services from its coverage.
In a Monday release, the Veterans Affairs Department (VA) said it will reinstate the full exclusion on abortions and abortion counseling. This exclusion was in place since the medical benefits package was first established in 1999 and was not removed until September 2022.
The VA also said it is proposing to reinstate this exclusion for the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA), which was also removed in 2022.
The VA said the reason for the exclusion’s reinstatement is to make sure “only needed medical services” will be provided to “our nation’s heroes and their families.”
From the establishment of the medical benefits package in 1999, abortion services were not provided because they were not “needed” medical services under section 1710 of title 38 of the United States Code (U.S.C.). For the next two decades, the VA consistently interpreted abortion services as not “needed” medical services and so did not cover them.
This interpretation was changed in 2022 when the presiding VA secretary reversed it in response to the Supreme Court’s decision regarding Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which returned the decision for the provision of abortion services from the federal government back to the states.
The VA said it proposes to exclude abortion services from its medical care package as it was before the exclusion was lifted in 2022. It said its legal authority to undo the changes is “beyond doubt.”
The VA said it is open to comments regarding the proposal until Sept. 3.
Comments can be submitted through www.regulations.gov.
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