ICYMI: Senator Murray Presses VA Secretary Nominee Doug Collins on Preserving Access to Lifesaving Abortion Care at Collins’ Nomination Hearing
Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, issued the following statement in response to the Trump administration’s move today to revoke women veterans’ ability to receive abortion care through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) when their pregnancy is putting their health at risk, or is the result of rape or incest. Senator Murray pressed VA Secretary Doug Collins at his nomination hearing in January on whether he would eliminate access to abortion care at VA for veterans who are victims of rape, to which he refused to give a straight answer.
Today, VA issued a proposed rule revoking the Biden administration’s final rule on Reproductive Health Services, issued March 4th, 2024, that allowed VA to provide abortion care to veterans in very limited circumstances—when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, or if the life or health of the pregnant veteran would be endangered if the pregnancy were carried to term—and allowed VA to offer comprehensive, evidence-based pregnancy counseling that includes information about abortion services.
The Trump administration’s new reproductive health policy means that VA will return to a near-total ban on abortion with only an exception for care when “a physician certifies that the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term,” with no exceptions for the health of the veteran or for rape/incest. VA providers will also be gagged from even discussing abortion with their veteran patients—even in life-threatening situations. There are approximately 300,000 women veterans of reproductive age who are enrolled in VA health care, and VA estimates that over 155,000 of them live in states that have enacted abortion bans or restrictions.
“Trump and Secretary Collins are ripping away necessary health care from pregnant veterans whose lives and health are in danger, or who were raped—it’s unspeakably cruel and a grotesque assault on women who have put their lives on the line to keep us safe.
“Donald Trump insisted time and again on the campaign trail that he supported exceptions for rape and incest—now he’s going after exactly those exceptions with this move to axe the incredibly limited abortion services VA provides for women veterans in desperate situations.
“The bottom line is, Republicans don’t care if your health is in danger, if you’re a veteran, or if you’ve been raped—they want abortion outlawed everywhere, in every circumstance, for everyone. This administration has shown nothing but callous disregard for veterans’ lives, their health care, and their livelihoods—especially when those veterans happen to be women.”
Senator Murray was the first woman to join the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee (SVAC) and the first woman to chair the Committee—and advocating for women veterans and their access to reproductive health care has been a longtime focus for Senator Murray. Senator Murray called on VA to provide abortion care to veterans early in the Biden administration, and she applauded the Biden administration’s announcement later in the year that would begin to provide abortion care for veterans and their eligible dependents to protect the health and life of the individual and in cases of rape or incest. Murray helped lead the charge in calling out Republicans for their attacks on, and attempts to undo, this limited and commonsense policy. Senator Murray also leads the Veteran Families Health Services Act, comprehensive legislation that would expand fertility treatments—including IVF—and family-building services for servicemembers and veterans who are unable to conceive without assistance, and she has sought unanimous consent to pass the legislation on multiple occasions. She recently introduced new legislation with Senator Duckworth to help cover IVF costs for servicemembers and military families. Last March, Murray applauded VA’s move to expand IVF services to eligible unmarried veterans and eligible veterans in same-sex marriages, and allowing veterans to use donated gametes in IVF services.
Senator Murray is also a longtime leader in the fight to protect and expand access to reproductive health care and abortion rights, and she has led Congressional efforts to fight back after the Supreme Court’s disastrous decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Murray has introduced more than a dozen pieces of legislation to protect reproductive rights from further attacks, protect providers, and help ensure women get the care they need; Murray has led efforts to push for passage of these bills on the floor multiple times. Last January, on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Murray led her colleagues in hosting a “State of Abortion Rights” briefing with women who have suffered firsthand from Republican abortion bans, and last June, she chaired a HELP Committee hearing titled “The Assault on Women’s Freedoms: How Abortion Bans Have Created a Health Care Nightmare Across America.” Murray helped lead efforts to force Republicans on the record on votes to protect access to contraception and access to IVF (twice), and she led her colleagues in raising the alarm about the threat a second Trump administration would pose to reproductive rights and abortion access in every state, as outlined in Project 2025. At a forum Senator Murray held this year on the anniversary of the Dobbs decision, Senator Murray spoke about Republicans’ plan to institute a backdoor nationwide abortion ban.
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