FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 2, 2022
Contact: Mary Owens, [email protected]
VA Sec. McDonough Breaks the Law to Impose Abortion on Demand Until Birth, Paid for by Taxpayers, Nationwide
Washington, D.C. – The Biden administration announced today that it will expand abortion on demand and pro-abortion counseling through the Department of Veterans Affairs, making abortion available for hundreds of thousands of veterans and their beneficiaries, effective immediately, in violation of federal and state laws. The new rule includes a broad, undefined “health” exception that imposes abortion on demand at the VA in states that have taken action to protect unborn children and their mothers.
Republican members of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs last year reminded the administration that federal law and regulations prohibit the VA from offering abortion or counseling for abortion. Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough also failed to respond to a letter from U.S. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) last month showing the illegality of the proposed rule.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America slammed the administration’s actions in a statement:
“Shame on Secretary McDonough for caving to Biden and the radical abortion lobby’s demands to violate state and federal law regarding abortion. Abortion is not health care – in fact it carries serious physical and mental health risks – and expanding abortion on demand into the VA is illegal, period,” said SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “This is the latest egregious example of the pro-abortion extremism that has taken over the Democratic Party. Biden himself used to agree taxpayers should never be forced to fund the destruction of innocent life. Now he is head of the most pro-abortion administration in history. There is no law they won’t rewrite or institution they won’t destroy in their drive to impose abortion without limits – even late-term abortions well after unborn children can feel pain – up to the moment of birth, paid for by taxpayers, nationwide.
“Democrats’ pro-abortion extremism is wildly out of step with the majority of Americans. We will expose them and hold them accountable at the ballot box.”
Since the Dobbs decision, more than a dozen states have taken action to protect life, with the potential to save more than 200,000 lives. Every state with strong pro-life laws on the books allows necessary and timely medical treatment to save the life of a pregnant woman.
This election cycle, SBA Pro-Life America and its entities plan to spend $78 million to protect life across America. This includes reaching eight million voters across battleground states – four million directly at their doors – to elect pro-life leaders across America and in D.C.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America is a network of more than one million pro-life Americans nationwide, dedicated to ending abortion by electing national leaders and advocating for laws that save lives, with a special calling to promote pro-life women leaders.
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The SBA Pro-Life America National Pro-life Scorecard is a tool that helps hold members of Congress accountable for their legislative records on life and that highlights leadership in the fight to serve women and save babies.
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