US Rep. Kelly Morrison Leads Effort to Protect Reproductive Health Care Access for Veterans

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Representative Kelly Morrison (MN-03), Representative Maxine Dexter (OR-03), and Representative Julie Brownley (CA-26) are leading 130 House Democrats in demanding that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) protect reproductive health care access for veterans. Rep. Morrison, a doctor for more than 20 years, is the first and only pro-choice OB-GYN in Congress and a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. 

In 2024, the VA finalized the Reproductive Health Services rule, which required that the Department of Veterans Affairs provide abortion counseling and care for veterans, even in states with abortion restrictions. In the wake of the fall of Roe v. Wade, which triggered extreme abortion bans in states across the country, the VA took this action to ensure that veterans could access the lifesaving health care they need – no matter where they live. More than 55 percent of women veterans of reproductive age live in states that have banned abortion or are likely to do so. 

But now, the Trump Administration appears ready to rescind this rule – following the Project 2025 playbook that called for its reversal. This reversal would immediately put veterans’ health and lives at risk, depriving them of basic, essential, and lifesaving care.

In a new letter to VA Secretary Collins, Rep. Morrison and her colleagues are calling on the VA to protect access to abortion care for veterans, and ensure that VAs in all 50 states provide comprehensive access to reproductive health care, including abortion care – regardless of state abortion laws.

“Abortion bans put women’s lives at risk,” said Congresswoman Kelly Morrison. “Our veterans put their lives on the line for our country – but they shouldn’t be forced to risk their lives again just because of where they live. No matter what state veterans live in, they should have full confidence they can get the care they need from their local VA. Ripping away veterans’ access to essential health care is simply unconscionable – and we cannot let that happen.”

Members signing the letter include: Brownley, Julia; Morrison, Kelly; Amo, Gabe; Ansari, Yassamin; Balint, Becca; Barragán, Nanette; Beatty, Joyce; Bera, Ami; Beyer, Donald; Bonamici, Suzanne; Brown, Shontel; Budzinski, Nikki; Bynum, Janelle; Carbajal, Salud; Carter, Troy; Case, Ed; Castor, Kathy; Cherfilus-McCormick, Sheila; Chu, Judy; Cisneros, Gilbert; Clarke, Yvette; Cleaver, Emanuel; Cohen, Steve; Conaway, Herbert; Connolly, Gerald; Costa, Jim; Craig, Angie; Crockett, Jasmine; Crow, Jason; Davis, Danny; DeGette, Diana; Deluzio, Christopher; DeSaulnier, Mark; Doggett, Lloyd; Elfreth, Sarah; Escobar, Veronica; Evans, Dwight; Figures, Shomari; Fletcher, Lizzie; Foster, Bill; Frankel, Lois; Friedman, Laura; Garcia, Robert; Garcia, Sylvia; Goldman, Daniel; Goodlander, Maggie; Gottheimer, Josh; Hayes, Jahana; Houlahan, Chrissy; Hoyle, Val; Ivey, Glenn; Jackson, Jonathan; Jacobs, Sara; Jayapal, Pramila; Johnson, Henry; Johnson, Julie; Kelly, Robin; Kennedy, Timothy; Khanna, Ro; Krishnamoorthi, Raja; Larson, John; Latimer, George; Lee, Summer; Leger Fernandez, Teresa; Levin, Mike; Lofgren, Zoe; Magaziner, Seth; McBath, Lucy; McBride, Sarah; McClain Delaney, April; McClellan, Jennifer; McCollum, Betty; McGarvey, Morgan; McGovern, James; Menendez, Robert; Meng, Grace; Moore, Gwen; Moulton, Seth; Mullin, Kevin; Nadler, Jerrold; Neguse, Joe; Norton, Eleanor; Ocasio-Cortez, Alexandria; Olszewski, Johnny; Panetta, Jimmy; Pappas, Chris; Peters, Scott; Pingree, Chellie; Pocan, Mark; Pressley, Ayanna; Quigley, Mike; Ramirez, Delia; Randall, Emily; Ross, Deborah; Salinas, Andrea; Sánchez, Linda; Scanlon, Mary Gay; Schakowsky, Janice; Scott, Robert; Sewell, Terri; Sherrill, Mikie; Smith, Adam; Sorensen, Eric; Stansbury, Melanie; Stanton, Greg; Stevens, Haley; Strickland, Marilyn; Subramanyam, Suhas; Swalwell, Eric; Takano, Mark; Thanedar, Shri; Thompson, Mike; Titus, Dina; Tlaib, Rashida; Tokuda, Jill; Tonko, Paul; Torres, Ritchie; Trahan, Lori; Tran, Derek; Underwood, Lauren; Vargas, Juan; Vasquez, Gabe; Veasey, Marc; Velázquez, Nydia; Vindman, Eugene; Wasserman Schultz, Debbie; Waters, Maxine; Watson Coleman, Bonnie; Williams, Nikema; Wilson, Frederica 

Dear Mr. Secretary: 

We write today to voice our strong opposition to any effort to rescind or replace the final rule entitled “Reproductive Health Services,” which ensures veterans, and their eligible family members and caregivers, can access abortion care and counseling through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). It is our government’s solemn promise to care for our veterans’ health and well-being and protect their fundamental freedoms, as they have fought to protect ours. That promise includes ensuring veterans and their loved ones have access to the full spectrum of reproductive healthcare, including abortion care.

Prior to the implementation of this rule, which was issued as an Interim Final Rule in September 2022, and finalized in March 2024, VA’s medical benefits package did not permit abortion care or counseling in any circumstance. As a result of this ban, veterans who needed abortion care, including those whose lives were at risk, were denied access to this needed healthcare service. In issuing the Reproductive Health Services rule, VA rightly found that providing access to reproductive healthcare for veterans was necessary to uphold its statutory obligation to “promote, preserve, or restore” the health of veterans.

Veterans have long faced significant barriers to accessing reproductive healthcare, but the public health crisis created by the June 2022 reversal of Roe v. Wade has created an unprecedented level of confusion, chaos, and fear. The draconian abortion bans and restrictions that states have implemented in the aftermath of the decision have undermined the rights and bodily autonomy of pregnant veterans across this country. Your department, in issuing the Reproductive Health Services rule, recognized the urgency required to protect veterans’ health and well-being by providing abortion counseling, as well as abortion care in cases of rape, incest, or life or health endangerment of the pregnant person. Without this rule, pregnant veterans in states that ban abortion would have been denied access to needed care at VA and forced to travel long distances to access urgently needed healthcare, including life-saving care.

Ensuring this rule stays in place in its current form is crucial to safeguarding the health and wellbeing of our veterans and their families and caregivers, especially given the unique challenges veterans face, including experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a higher risk of suicide, and military sexual trauma. However, we are gravely concerned about language in Project 2025 that urges VA to “rescind all departmental clinical policy directives that are contrary to the principles of conservative governance starting with abortion services.” Despite President Donald Trump’s insistence that he is in no way associated with Project 2025, it appears that your department is poised to follow this plan and roll back access to reproductive healthcare for our veterans and their loved ones. As of the date of this letter, according to the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, an Interim Final Rule with the same title as the 2022 rule is pending regulatory review. An Interim Final Rule that restricts access to abortion for veterans would pose an immediate and grave danger for veterans and deprive them, without proper notice, of the benefits they have earned and the healthcare they need. 

The Reproductive Health Services rule, as finalized in March 2024, crucially recognized that veterans deserve the freedom to make their own decisions about their health, bodies, and futures —free from interference from politicians or judges. To ensure our veterans continue to have access to the reproductive healthcare they need, we demand your agency withdraw any pending rule and refrain from issuing future rules that would rescind or restrict access to abortion care and counseling at VA. On behalf of the veterans we represent, we thank you for your immediate response to this letter.