In full transparency, the following is a media release from Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s office. She was elected by voters in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to serve the state in Washington DC in the US Senate. She is a Democrat. (stock graphic)
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WASHINGTON DC Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Representative Lois Frankel (D-Fla.), along with Democratic Women’s Caucus leadership, Pro-Choice Caucus leadership, led 62 Congressional Democrats in submitting a comment letter in support of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) interim final rule (IFR) allowing VA to provide abortion counseling and, in some cases, abortions, to pregnant veterans and VA beneficiaries, while urging the Department to continue working to ensure veterans and beneficiaries can access care beyond only these limited circumstances.
“Like others across the country, veterans face significant barriers to care as extremist lawmakers continue to work to decimate abortion access,” wrote the lawmakers. “Just months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, dozens of states across the country are enforcing and/or passing total or near total abortion bans, with more expected to do so imminently. This is of grave concern as access to abortion care is essential to a woman’s freedom to make decisions about her health and well-being.”
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The letter continues, “The IFR is an important first action to ensuring access to this care by providing abortion care for veterans and eligible family members in cases of rape, incest, and in cases of life or health endangerment of the pregnant person. This is especially critical for VA beneficiaries given the high rates of military sexual trauma for service members. Everyone should be able to access abortion care, no matter why they need it or where they obtain their care. There are many reasons why someone might need an abortion, and all of them are valid. We therefore urge VA to continue to work to ensure that veterans can seamlessly access full coverage of abortion care, regardless of the circumstances.”
The letter was endorsed by the National Women’s Law Center, NARAL, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Physicians for Reproductive Health, and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, and signed by 62 members of the House and Senate, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
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