Power to Decide Statement on Senate Vote Affecting Abortion Access for Veterans

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Tonight the U.S. Senate voted 50 to 48 against S.J. Res 103, a resolution that would have overturned a near total abortion ban for veterans and their caregivers. Current Veteran’s Administration (VA) policy bans abortion, including in cases of rape or health endangerment, and bans abortion counseling in all circumstances. It is the most extreme abortion ban in any federal program–more restrictive than the Hyde Amendment. 

In response, Power to Decide Interim Co-CEO, Rachel Fey, released the following statement:  

“On New Year’s Eve, the Trump-Vance Administration quietly instituted a near total abortion ban for veterans and their loved ones–a ban with no exceptions for rape, no exceptions for a veteran whose health is in danger, and a ban on abortion counseling in any circumstance. 

"A veteran will only be able to access abortion if a physician determines their life is in danger–but as we have seen countless times since the Dobbs decision, pregnant people die or face severe harm when providers and hospitals fear prosecution for providing basic health care.

"To the Senators who voted against this resolution: this is the cruel policy you have endorsed. Our veterans fought for our fundamental freedoms. Stripping them of those freedoms–including the freedom to make their own health care decisions in the most difficult of circumstances–is an insult and an injustice.”

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Power to Decide is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to advance sexual and reproductive well-being for all by providing trusted information, expanding access to quality services, and catalyzing culture change.