The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will offer abortions to veterans in cases of “rape and incest” and if the mother’s life is in danger, including in states with strict abortion laws.
Even those enrolled in the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veteran Affairs (CHAMPVA) will have access to abortions. The “spouse or surviving spouse of—or a child of—a Veteran with disabilities or a Veteran who has died” are those who qualify for CHAMPVA.”
So, in other words, abortions are for the veterans and their families.
The VA banned abortion access in 1999, but since SCOTUS overruled Roe v. Wade, officials decided to take action:
“This is a patient safety decision,” said Denis McDonough, 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.”“VA will be able to offer abortion counseling and abortions to pregnant Veterans and VA beneficiaries in cases of rape, incest, or when the life or health of the Veteran would be endangered if the pregnancy were carried to term — in accordance with generally accepted standards of medical practice,” said Dr. Shereef Elnahal, VA’s Under Secretary for Health. “We came to this decision after listening to VA health care providers and Veterans across the country, who sounded the alarm that abortion restrictions are creating a medical emergency for those we serve. Offering this care will save Veterans’ health and lives, and there is nothing more important than that.”
I put rape and incest in quotes in the title because it does not sound like the doctors will need much evidence that rape or incest took place. The VA also didn’t provide much information about the mother’s health.
Within the 40-page document:
Section 17.38(c)(1)(ii) permits abortions when the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest. We are not requiring a veteran to present particular evidence such as a police report to qualify for this care. This is consistent with longstanding VA policy to treat eligible individuals who experienced military sexual trauma without evidence of the trauma. This approach, similar to in the context of military sexual trauma, removes barriers to providing care. Therefore, the regulation will provide that self-reporting from the pregnant veteran constitutes sufficient evidence.—Section 17.272(a)(64)(ii) permits abortions when the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest. We are not requiring the CHAMPVA beneficiary to present particular evidence such as a police report to qualify for this care. This approach, as discussed above, removes barriers to providing care. Therefore, the regulation will provide that self-reporting from the pregnant CHAMPVA beneficiary constitutes sufficient evidence.
The VA also provides a word salad to justify killing a baby if the mother’s life is in danger. Oh, wait. I’m sorry. “Pregnant individuals” because science is so passe.
People seem to “forget” that doctors can induce labor and that a woman can have an emergency C-section. For some reason, killing a baby is the only way to save a woman:
Pregnancy can exacerbate underlying or preexisting conditions, like renal or cardiac disease, in such a way as to severely compromise the health of an individual. Additionally, pregnant individuals may have their health endangered due to severe preeclampsia, newly diagnosed cancer requiring prompt treatment, and intrauterine infections. In those circumstances, an abortion may be the only treatment available to protect the health of the pregnant CHAMPVA beneficiary. Thus, there may be instances when an abortion may be medically necessary and appropriate to prevent a pregnant CHAMPVA beneficiary’s health from being endangered if the pregnancy was carried to term, and VA finds it necessary to deviate from TRICARE (Select) to provide abortions in these circumstances.
It’s okay to kill the unborn human being if a woman’s life is in danger if she carries the baby to term.
You know, a baby can survive outside the womb at 22 weeks. There have been cases of babies born at 19 weeks surviving.
Preeclampsia starts after 20 weeks of pregnancy. That means the baby is likely to survive outside of the womb.
Remember the story of my friend with preeclampsia? There is no reason to kill your baby, especially after viability. No excuse at all.
The VA claims the new rule does not violate the Hyde Amendment, which bans using federal funds for abortions except in cases of rape and incest or if the mother’s life is in danger:
For instance, Federal funds available to the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education are subject to an appropriations restriction known as the “Hyde Amendment.” Congress has included the Hyde Amendment in those agencies’ annual appropriations legislation for more than forty years. In its current form, the Hyde Amendment provides that no covered funds “shall be expended for any abortion” or “for health benefits coverage that includes coverage of abortion,” except “if the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest; or . . . in the case where a woman suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness, including a lifeendangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself, that would, as certified by a physician, place the woman in danger of death unless an abortion is performed.”
But the new rule violates the Hyde Amendment because, as of publication, it “restricts federal funding of abortions for active military members, and a 1992 law prohibits abortion care for military veterans or retirees.”
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