Department of Veterans Affairs quietly bans abortion services, counseling
Source: The Hill
12/23/25 3:10 PM ET
The Trump administration has quietly banned the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from providing abortion services to veterans and their dependents, including those who become pregnant as a result of rape or incest.
The ban followed a memo authored by Joshua Craddock, deputy assistant attorney general of the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) issued Dec. 18 that concluded the VA may not provide abortion services under any provision of the law.
The memo revoked a Biden-era OLC opinion that allowed the VA to provide limited abortion counseling and services to pregnant veterans and their beneficiaries. The Biden policy allowed abortions for those who became pregnant as a result of rape or incest, or if a pregnancy endangered the “life and health” of the person seeking an abortion.
According to screenshots of an internal VA memo dated Monday and sent to the leaders of the VA’s 18 regional integrated service networks that were shared with The Hill, the agency “must comply” with the Dec. 18 memo and that “effective immediately,” the VA will no longer provide abortion or abortion counseling.
Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5661427-abortion-ban-trump-administration-veterans-affairs/