WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) introduced the VA Abortion Transparency Act, which would impose new abortion reporting requirements on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in an effort to create more transparency for taxpayers.
“The Biden administration’s war on life led to veterans care facilities wrongfully providing abortions,” said Risch. “American taxpayer dollars fund veterans’ care, so they have a right to have full transparency regarding just how many abortions the Biden administration has enabled through this deadly policy.”
“The Biden Administration’s thinly-veiled workaround forces taxpayers to fund abortion, violating both federal law and congressional intent,” said Crapo. “This bill gives American taxpayers the transparency they deserve through enhancing reporting requirements at the VA."
“Congress has spoken. The Veterans Health Care Act of 1992 clearly prohibits the VA from providing abortion services of any kind,” said Tuberville. “For the Biden administration to twist the law into something other than what Congress intended and force the cost on the taxpayer is a disgrace. Our veterans deserve a VA that is 100% focused on ensuring they receive timely and quality care, not on implementing Joe Biden’s abortion-on-demand agenda. I am proud to introduce this bill that provides much needed transparency for taxpayers and holds the VA accountable.”
The legislation is supported by Heritage Action, CatholicVote, National Right to Life, March for Life Action, Concerned Women for America, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, Students for Life, and Americans United for Life.
Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), John Thune (R-S.D.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) cosponsored the legislation.
Background:
In 2022, the Biden administration’s VA announced it would begin facilitating abortions for veterans and their dependents through the taxpayer-funded VA health care system. Despite multiple congressional inquiries and questions regarding the legality of such a change in long-standing policy, the VA implemented the regulation. The VA reported in October 2023 that from September 9, 2022 to September 30, 2023, the agency facilitated 88 abortions. The VA has refused to release updated data regarding additional abortions facilitated since this last report, despite multiple congressional letters requesting the data.
