- Move following Supreme Court ruling in June that reversed Roe v. Wade, eliminating the constitutional right to the procedure.
- Once the proposal goes into effect, VA physicians will be permitted to perform abortions on federal property for the first time.
- Since high court ruling, even before, in preparation for expected outcome, states began crafting and voting on abortion, or abortion-ban, legislation.
- More than a dozen states have sought to impose abortion restrictions since the ruling, which sent abortion policy back to the states –meaning that service members could be stationed in a state that doesn’t allow abortion, the newspaper also reports.
- “This is a patient safety decision,” said Denis McDonough, the secretary of Veterans Affairs. “Pregnant veterans and VA beneficiaries deserve to have access to world-class reproductive care when they need it most. That’s what our nation owes them, and that’s what we at VA will deliver.”