The Department of Justice’s withdrawal of their previous opinion, which allowed the VA to provide limited abortion services, reverses progress for women veterans and puts them at serious risk of coverage delays and potentially life threatening medical complications.  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 
December 23, 2025
CONTACT: press@iava.org | 917-326-4002

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) condemns the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion dated December 18, 2025, which concludes that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) “may not provide abortion services under any provision of chapter 17 of title 38” and withdrawing key portions of their September 21, 2022 opinion that had supported VA’s authority to provide limited abortion care before the VA had completed its own rule on abortion access.  

In the opinion, OLC grounds its conclusion in longstanding statutory restrictions Congress enacted to improve women veterans’ health care while expressly carving out abortion from VA’s reproductive health authority and notes parallel limitations affective CHAMPVA beneficiaries.  

“This opinion doesn’t just reverse a legal memo, it could reverse progress for women veterans who have already given so much and have had to fight to be seen, heard, and treated fairly,” said Dr. Kyleanne Hunter, CEO of IAVA. “Women veterans deserve timely and safe care at all times, and particularly in cases of rape, incest, or serious threats to health. This reversal has the real potential to delay or deny access to care and that harm is very real.”  

IAVA’s members have consistently made clear that women’s healthcare after Dobbs is not optional and that our women veterans must continue to receive the support they need. IAVA survey data shows that 68% of members (including over 60% of male veterans) support VA and DoD stepping in to ensure access to needed reproductive care in the post-Dobbs environment. Veterans and their families overwhelmingly want the government to safeguard access to reproductive care, not restrict it.  

“Our members have told us, repeatedly, that women veterans’ healthcare, especially in the post-Dobbs environment must remain one of our top priorities,” said Dr. Hunter. “This opinion would cut off VA’s ability to provide abortion care, and potentially counseling, even in the narrow circumstances they had previously adopted to protect veterans facing rape, incest, or serious threats to their health. These veterans and VA-covered families are at extreme risk of being pushed into delay, travel or crisis because of where they live instead of receiving the care they need and have earned.”  

The OLC decision dictates that VA is expressly not able to use its broad medical services authority for abortion services, meaning that the ability to provide abortion services – even in life-threatening cases – is a policy choice for Congress. IAVA implores Congress to provide clear statutory authority that protects women veterans and VA beneficiaries in circumstances that all Americans overwhelmingly understand: when a veteran’s life or health is under threat, or in cases of rape or incest. 

IAVA also urges VA leadership to work immediately to prevent potential confusion and delays to access across facilities and in the community care network. While urgent pregnancy-related care is still authorized, veterans must not be put at risk by unnecessary delays, denials, or referrals because frontline staff are confused or afraid to act in the veteran’s best interest. IAVA calls for rapid, plain-language clinical guidance and standardized processes that centers the veteran and their health. 

Lastly, IAVA urges both Congress and the VA to ensure spouses and dependents are not left without viable options, as the opinion also addressed VA-connected care for families through CHAMPVA. This is of particular importance for families in states where access to reproductive health care has narrowed after Dobbs.  

While OLC’s decision may be rooted in statutory interpretation, the human impact is undeniable: veterans in states with restrictive abortion laws will lose one of the only lifelines available to them. For survivors of sexual assault, for women whose health is at risk, and for families facing impossible choices, this ruling means fewer options, more danger, and greater inequity.  

This is not just a health care issue – it is a national security issue. When service members and veterans cannot access essential reproductive care; readiness, retention, and trust in the institutions that promised to care for them are all undermined. Veterans should not be forced to choose between their health and their service to the nation.  

IAVA urges the following immediate actions to protect the lives and health of our women veterans and VA-covered families:  

• Congress must immediately clarify the VA’s authority to provide abortion care in limited, medically necessary circumstances. 
• VA must issue rapid, plain-language guidance to ensure no veteran is turned away from time-sensitive care because of confusion or misinterpretation across facilities and community partners.  

IAVA stands with our women veterans and will continue to work tirelessly to ensure their service is met with the timely, accessibly, and quality health care they have earned. The VA motto promises to care for those who have borne the battle, and for their families, caregivers, and survivors. That promise rings hollow if the VA is barred from providing life-saving reproductive care. This moment is a test of whether America will honor its commitment to veterans in full, not just in part. We must act swiftly to clarify the law, protect reproductive healthcare access for veterans, and ensure that no veteran is left without care in their time of need. 

About IAVA: IAVA stands at the center of people, policy, and institutions to ensure that the lived experience of post-9/11 veterans is heard, measured, and acted on. We turn the experiences of post-9/11 veterans into evidence, use that evidence to shape policy, and work with institutions that serve veterans to ensure that policies become real in veterans’ lives. By convening veterans, researchers, and decisions-makers, IAVA drives the changes needed to ensure America serves the newest generation of veterans.  

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