Legal Action

Challenging the Trump-Vance Administration’s Oppressive Department of Veterans Affairs Abortion Ban

Minority Veterans of America is suing the Trump-Vance administration over a ban on abortion care and counseling at the Department of Veterans Affairs

Minority Veterans of America (MVA), represented by Democracy Forward and National Women’s Law Center, filed a lawsuit against the Trump-Vance administration over its ban on abortion care and counseling at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The ban reverses the VA’s expansion of abortion care access in 2022 and does not make an exception for rape, incest, or even serious health risks for the pregnant person.

This ban is the most restrictive among federal programs and one of the strictest in the country. This is especially consequential as the VA is the federal government’s largest provider of healthcare. The ban applies across all states, regardless of the state’s abortion laws.

MVA brings this lawsuit on behalf of its harmed members, including one pregnant member with chronic medical conditions and a long history of pregnancy complications, who needs access to abortion care and counseling to protect her health. The lawsuit argues the Trump-Vance administration fails to provide a reasoned explanation for disregarding its previous factual findings addressing veterans’ need for abortion care, which is in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act — a federal law that governs agency rulemaking.

Timeline

  • Brief was filed