Dear John,
The Department of Veterans Affairs is weighing a cruel new policy that would further limit the rights of women serving in the military: barring the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) from providing abortion care to veterans and their dependents except in life-threatening crises.
Stripping away abortion access isn’t the only way Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is targeting women who serve. He has rolled back protections against sexual harassment and assault, limited contraception coverage, and roundly dismissed calls for gender equity in combat roles and promotions. By restricting essential medical care for women in uniform and for veterans, Hegseth is devaluing women soldiers’ service and sacrifice.
Make no mistake: if Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins follows through, this would amount to the Trump administration’s first national abortion ban -- imposed on the very citizens who risked their lives and sacrificed to defend this country.
Send a direct message to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins today, demanding the VHA protect full access to reproductive health care for all veterans and their families.
The VHA is the backbone of health care for millions: 172 medical centers, more than 1,100 outpatient clinics worldwide, and $187 billion in benefits provided to 6.7 million veterans and survivors in 2024 alone. More than half of all female veterans of reproductive age -- at least 345,000 women -- live in states where abortion is already banned or severely restricted. For many, the VHA is the only health care they or their dependents have.
The impact will be devastating. Denying reproductive care, even in cases of rape or incest, will force veterans and their families into impossible situations, create severe financial strain, and undermine the health and dignity of women who have already borne the burdens of service.
This isn’t just bad policy -- it’s a betrayal of the promise our nation makes to care for those who have served it. But the VA has not yet finalized this plan, so there is still time for us to act. Veterans deserve comprehensive, compassionate health care -- including abortion care -- in recognition of their service to our country.
Tell VA Secretary Doug Collins to protect full access to abortion care for all veterans and their families.
It’s the least we can do for these soldiers who have defended our country.
- DFA AF Team
