The VA’s Abortion Mills
Biden seeks to use the military as leverage against states that ban abortion on demand.
The Party of Death is living up to its moniker, as Democrats see abortion access as the civil rights issue of the day. In this light, Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough recently announced that Joe Biden’s VA would be providing abortion services for veterans, even in states that have banned or severely restricted abortion. Using the euphemism of “reproductive care,” McDonough contended that “pregnant veterans and VA beneficiaries deserve to have access” to abortion procedures. “That’s what our nation owes them, and that’s what we at the VA will deliver.”
It’s yet another example of Biden shifting or completely reversing a previous policy position. For the first time in its history, the VA will provide abortion services, which is clearly a backtrack on Biden’s past support of the Hyde Amendment. Recall that the Hyde Amendment precludes the U.S. government from using taxpayer funds for abortion. (Of course, money is fungible, as illustrated by the half-billion dollars sent to Planned Parenthood each year.) Up until he ran for election in 2020, Biden was fully on board with Hyde.
But when it became politically expedient, Biden dumped his support of Hyde like it was yesterday’s garbage and is seeking to use abortion to fuel Democrat midterm election chances. That explains this new VA policy, which is a means of forcing the issue in the dozen states that have banned or limited abortions. Fortunately, even though the military has become a leftist social petri dish, there are a limited number of women the policy would directly impact, as there are roughly 300,000 women currently served by the VA. In other words, this is more of a political play than it is a significant policy change.
Ironically, the Biden administration frames the new policy change as a “life and death” issue. McDonough wrote, “Veterans are also at greater risk of experiencing pregnancy-related complications due to increased rates of chronic health conditions.”
All the states that have banned or severely limited abortions also grant exceptions in cases of emergencies related to the mother’s health. The notion that veterans living in states that don’t grant abortion on demand are somehow being subjected to endangered health situations is simply false. What has been limited is elective abortion services. This fact reveals the Biden administration’s move to be obviously and blatantly political.
This also sets up a potential lawsuit situation for the “good Catholic” Biden to challenge states that have banned abortions.