The United States Department of Affairs (VA), under the management of President Donald Trump, announced on Tuesday (5) a proposal to exclude abortion from the list of procedures that are currently covered by health insurance offered to US military veterans and their dependents. The measure, officially presented in Washington, is under public consultation and represents a realignment of federal health policies according to the current government’s guidelines.
By the proposal, according to information from the Associated PressVA health insurance will authorize abortion only in situations where there is concrete risk to the pregnant woman’s life. According to the department, the decision seeks to restrict public resources to “necessary medical services”.
The initiative responds to the demands of conservative US organizations, such as Alliance Defending Freedom, which publicly defended the withdrawal of abortion from the list of benefits to prioritize the allocation of resources to veterans’ health.
“The cost or supply of abortion takes resources from other areas,” warned the group in a letter sent to the federal government.
The public consultation on the subject is open until September 3, and the Trump government reinforces that the measure aligns VA policy with other federal programs such as Medicaid and Tricare, which already provide similar limitations for the procedure. Upon closing the deadline, the Department of Veteran Affairs will analyze the contributions to define the final version of the rule.
