Biden’s VA Secretary: ‘Looking Very Closely’ At Options To Provide Abortions For Vets In Pro-Life States

Biden’s VA Secretary: ‘Looking Very Closely’ At Options To Provide Abortions For Vets In Pro-Life States


The Biden regime is continuing to look at ways to circumvent state laws that either limit or ban abortion outright in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in June.

In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday, Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough was asked about a letter sent by Senate Democrats referencing a study by the National Partnership for Women & Families that allegedly showed 389,600 women vets live in states where the procedure is now banned, according to The Daily Wire.

“Will the VA take this measure and allow abortion services at VA hospitals even in states where abortion is banned?” Tapper asked McDonough.

“We’re looking expressly at these questions about how we guarantee the life and the health of our women veterans, those 300,000 who rely on us for their care,” the VA secretary said in response. “I don’t have any announcements to make on that this morning, Jake. But we’re looking very closely at that to ensure that there’s no diminution and no reduction of services to them and no risk to their — to their lives as a result of these decisions.”

Tapper then asked McDonough if it would be preferable to him to have abortions take place instead in VA clinics in those states.

“My preference is that those 300,000 women veterans — and that’s the fastest growing cohort of veterans that we have in our care, women veterans — my preference is that they not face risks to their lives as a result of this decision from the court,” McDonough said. “We’re going to make sure that we’re in a position to take care of that.”

He did not elaborate — nor did Tapper ask, apparently — how these female vets’ ‘lives’ are being put at risk, but that has become a favorite talking point for pro-abortion Democrats since the ‘Roe’ reversal.

The Daily Wire adds:

McDonough’s comments came in response to a letter from 24 Democratic senators, led by Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono, demanding that the VA amend or create regulations allowing VA to provide abortion and related services to veterans, after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. 

The secretary’s comments add to a series of attempts by Democrats and the Biden administration to end-run states that have banned abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which sent abortion laws back to the states.

“Current regulations prohibit the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) from providing abortions and abortion counseling as part of the medical benefits package. We contend that the VA has the statutory authority and discretion to provide abortions and abortion-related services and resources,” the senators wrote. “Importantly, the VA has used its authority under the Veterans Health Care Eligibility Reform Act of 1996 to provide reproductive care such as pregnancy care and infertility services.

“The VA must do everything in its power to provide critical reproductive care to veterans and their dependents across the country,” they added.

Just days after June’s Supreme Court decision, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said his agency was going to look at utilizing taxpayer money to pay for transportation across state lines for women who want to abort their unborn child.

At the same time, left-wing members of Congress including AOC and Sen. Elizabeth Warren are demanding that abortion clinics be established on federal property, regardless of any state law limiting or banning the procedure.


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