Senate Democrats narrowly blocked a Republican-led resolution on Wednesday that would have overturned a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rule forcing taxpayers to fund abortions at VA medical facilities.
The resolution failed 48-51, with Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) joining Democrats to block the measure. Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin (WV) joined the majority of Republicans in voting for the resolution. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) introduced the bicameral joint resolution with Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX) in February under the Congressional Review Act to reverse the rule.
On September 9, 2022, the VA announced its intention to begin providing abortion services for veterans and their dependents through the taxpayer-funded VA health care system — a move which Tuberville said is a blatant violation of Section 106 of the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992, which explicitly prohibits the VA from providing abortion services. He said the rule also violates state laws against abortion and fails to provide any conscious protections for VA medical staff.
“Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to pay for abortions. Especially not when this was done without anybody taking a vote in this building. Especially not when Congress voted to make it illegal 30 years ago. It’s illegal and it’s wrong,” the senator said before the vote.
“Anyone who believes in the appropriations process must oppose this rule and support this resolution. Voting ‘no’ would mean letting the administration spend money without the consent of the people in this room,” he added. “And that’s what we’re elected to do. Voting ‘no’ means a big stamp of approval for a blatantly-illegal regulation … The VA should be focused on their mission. Lord knows we’ve got veterans who need help right now.”
The VA rule in the Federal Register states that “irrespective of what laws or policies State may impose, veterans who receive the care set forth in the medical benefits package will be able to obtain abortions, if determined needed by a health care professional, when the life or the health of the pregnant veteran would be endangered if the pregnancy were carried to term or the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest.” The rule was promulgated following the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade and returned the issue of abortion back to individual states.
The failed resolution had 35 cosponsors in the Senate and has 51 cosponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives. The resolution was endorsed by Susan B. Anthony Pro Life-America, March for Life, National Right to Life, Catholic Vote, Heritage Action for America, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee, Family Research Council, and United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Before the vote, the White House released a statement warning that President Joe Biden would veto the resolution.
“The legislation would not only prevent veterans and CHAMPVA beneficiaries from receiving essential health care when they need it most—it undermines patient safety and invites political interference into deeply personal decisions made by pregnant veterans and CHAMPVA beneficiaries in consultation with their health care providers, threatening their health and lives,” the statement reads in part.
The VA rule is also the subject of an ongoing lawsuit filed by First Liberty Institute on behalf of Stephanie Carter, a Christian nurse practitioner at the Olin E. Teague Veterans’ Center in Temple, Texas, who has worked for the VA for 23 years. The complaint urges the court to block the enforcement of the abortion rule at the Texas facility and accuses the VA of violating the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.
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