{"id":43129,"date":"2023-10-05T16:50:20","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T16:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/10\/05\/legal-uncertainty-over-veterans-affairs-abortion-policy-worries-staff\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:04:17","slug":"legal-uncertainty-over-veterans-affairs-abortion-policy-worries-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2023\/10\/05\/legal-uncertainty-over-veterans-affairs-abortion-policy-worries-staff\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal uncertainty over Veterans Affairs abortion policy worries staff"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Veterans Affairs staffers worry they could run afoul of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2022\/09\/07\/advocates-draw-battle-lines-ahead-of-looming-va-abortion-fight\/\" target=\"_blank\">state laws banning abortion services <\/a>despite department leaders\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2022\/11\/22\/va-stands-by-abortion-policy-after-legal-threats-from-state-leaders\/\" target=\"_blank\">promises of legal protection, <\/a>according to a recent report released by the VA Inspector General.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The concerns come as President Joe Biden\u2019s nominee to serve as VA\u2019s general counsel remains stalled in the Senate over what appear to be political disagreements regarding the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2022\/09\/02\/va-to-provide-abortions-in-cases-of-rape-danger-to-womans-life\/\" target=\"_blank\">department\u2019s abortion policy<\/a>. Last week, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2023\/09\/25\/va-officials-sound-alarm-on-uptick-in-veterans-benefits-scams\/\" target=\"_blank\">VA Secretary Denis McDonough<\/a> called the confirmation delay problematic for his entire department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have 680 attorneys working for VA,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cWe are constantly working with Congress and the courts, making sure we are carrying out our business consistent with the statutory obligations of the agency. It is meaningful to have a confirmed general counsel in that slot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.veterans.senate.gov\/services\/files\/CCE8633D-63BE-400E-8C16-68E82A0A89A2\" target=\"_blank\">Anjali Chaturvedi,<\/a> who currently works as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department, was nominated by Biden for the top VA legal post in June 2022. Last week, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2023\/09\/28\/manchin-snarls-top-va-nominee-over-abortion-00118753\" target=\"_blank\">Politico reported<\/a> that Senate Republicans and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., have blocked the nomination over concerns about VA abortion policies announced in fall 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2023\/09\/15\/house-republicans-demand-data-on-va-abortion-procedures\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"206\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6309943062_b20149793b_k.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">House Republicans demand data on VA abortion procedures<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Lawmakers want more information on how many procedures have been performed and how they were justified.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the last 13 months, VA medical centers have provided abortion access to veterans and eligible dependents in cases of rape, incest and pregnancies that endanger the life or health of an individual. The move marked the first time VA physicians performed abortions on federal property, and covered individuals in states where local lawmakers had outlawed the procedures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Conservatives have attacked the policy as an illegal work-around of state laws. McDonough and other VA officials have said the move was needed to ensure critical reproductive care coverage remains available to veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In May, VA officials told committee members that they had provided 54 surgical or medical abortions over the first nine months of the policy. Of those, 10 were cases of rape, incest or imminent danger to the life of a patient. The others fell under the general category of adverse effect on the health of a veteran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2023\/09\/28\/manchin-snarls-top-va-nominee-over-abortion-00118753\" target=\"_blank\">In a statement to Politico<\/a>, a spokesperson for Manchin said the senator opposes the policy, calling it \u201ca blatant violation of federal law.\u201d But his office would not comment on whether Manchin is intentionally holding up Chaturvedi\u2019s nomination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/oig\/pubs\/VAOIG-22-03931-226.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">in a report released late last week<\/a>, officials from the VA Inspector General\u2019s office said the legal uncertainty over the abortion policy fight has left numerous staffers confused about the limits of the policy and worried they\u2019ll face legal consequences even if they follow the rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe need for policy guidance and funding resources was apparent throughout interviews with leaders,\u201d the report stated. \u201cOne facility leader stated, \u2018everyone wants to know exactly. . . what they should do, not general terms and options for resources, but exactly what we can and can\u2019t do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Officials from VHA\u2019s Office of Women\u2019s Health told the inspector general\u2019s office that they are working on better guidance, but have not yet finished the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both McDonough and Justice Department officials in past statements have asserted that the new abortion policies are legal, and that they will defend VA employees performing their workplace duties from outside interference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Inspector General report said that other VA reproductive services \u2014 birth control access, in vitro fertilization procedures, erectile dysfunction medication \u2014 have caused fewer concerns among staff. They also noted that for now, the abortion concerns remain mostly hypothetical, because of the small number of procedures performed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs abortion-related legislation and court rulings continue to evolve, facilities may need to adjust processes in states with laws limiting abortion services,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In September, Republican leaders from the House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee threatened to subpoena more detailed information on abortions performed at Veterans Affairs facilities, saying that repeated requests by Congress for the data have been ignored in recent months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Committee officials said they are still awaiting a response from VA leadership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An inspector general report found confusion and concerns among employees regarding the abortion access rules.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":79011,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,7,23,12,26,62,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3222],"class_list":["post-43129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-education-transition","category-home","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"LPF2VSL6WNEYXKK2UNW6HPLM2U","arc_canonical_url":"\/management\/hr\/2023\/10\/05\/legal-uncertainty-over-veterans-affairs-abortion-policy-worries-staff\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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