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‘DISGUSTING’: VA DOCTORS CAN NOW REPORTEDLY REFUSE TO TREAT
UNMARRIED PEOPLE, DEMOCRATS  
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Eloise Goldsmith
June 16, 2025
Common Dreams
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_ This is a "political purity tests for people who risked their lives
for this country," wrote one veterans group. _

Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins with Donald Trump,

 

In response to a January executive order signed by U.S.
President Donald Trump
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of Veterans Affairs has implemented new guidelines that permit
individual doctors and other health professionals to refuse to treat
patients based on their marital status or political
beliefs, according
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Monday reporting from _The Guardian._

With the changes in place, "individual workers are now free to decline
to care for patients based on personal characteristics not explicitly
prohibited by federal law."

According to _The Guardian_, previously VA hospitals' bylaws said
that medical staff could not discriminate against patients based on
"race, age, color, sex, religion, national origin, politics, marital
status, or disability in any employment matter." Terms on that list
including, including "national origin," "politics," and "marital
status," are no longer there.

The changes "seem to open the door to discrimination on the basis of
anything that is not legally protected," Dr. Kenneth Kizer, the VA's
top healthcare official during the Clinton administration, told _The
Guardian._

The new guidelines, which also apply to psychologists and other
occupations, are already in effect in at least some Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers, according to the outlet.

The Veterans Health Administration, the largest integrated healthcare
system in the country, provides care at over 1,300 healthcare
facilities. According to the VA's website
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over 9.1 million veterans are enrolled in the VA healthcare program.

What's more, the outlet reviewed documents that show that medical
staff including doctors can now be barred "from working at VA
hospitals based on their marital status, political party affiliation
or union activity." Workers like certified nurse practitioners,
chiropractors, and licensed clinical social workers, among others, are
also impacted by the changes.

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who is a senior member and former
chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, issued a sharp
statement in response to the news.

"Healthcare isn't just a special privilege Trump gets to dole out to
veterans who agree with the president—it's a moral obligation our
country owes to every single man and woman who serves in uniform.
Anyone who doesn't understand that has no business leading our armed
forces in any way," wrote Murray in a statement on Monday.

"It's disgusting that this policy was ever allowed to go into effect,
and I will not let it fly under the radar," she added.

"This isn't healthcare. It's political purity tests for people who
risked their lives for this country. It's unethical, authoritarian,
and every one of us should be outraged," wrote
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a progressive veterans group, in a Bluesky post on Monday in response
to _The Guardian's_ reporting.

According to _The Guardian, _VA Press Secretary Peter Kasperowicz
did not dispute these aspects of the new rules, but told the outlet
that "all eligible veterans will always be welcome at VA and will
always receive the benefits and services they've earned under the
law."

The rule change, according to _The Guardian_, stems from the January
30 executive order called "Defending Women from Gender Ideology
Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government."
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The outlet reported that the "primary purpose of the executive order
was to strip most government protections from transgender people. The
VA has since ceased providing most gender-affirming care and forbidden
a long list of words, including 'gender affirming' and 'transgender,'
from clinical settings." The VA is currently led by former Republican
congressman Doug Collins.

Kasperowicz confirmed that they were implemented to adhere to January
executive order. He called the changes nothing more than a
"formality." He added that the revisions were necessary to "ensure VA
policy comports with federal law," but did not specify which laws made
the changes necessary.

_Eloise Goldsmith is a staff writer for Common Dreams._

* VA Medical Centers
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* discrimination
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