WASHINGTON, D.C.— In a vote on Wednesday afternoon, the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate defeated a Republican effort to stop the Biden Administration’s illegal order to turn Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals into abortion centers.

The resolution failed in a vote of 48-51. All Democrats voted against the resolution except for Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) who voted for it.

“The Biden Administration once again pushes unlimited abortion paid for with taxpayer dollars,” stated Carol Tobias. “The day after Americans finalized and filed their taxes, with some paying a tax bill with hard-earned funds, Democrats voted to continue to send those monies to support unlimited abortion at the VA.”

Continued Tobias, “National Right to Life thanks Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) for his efforts to try to block the Biden Administration’s latest shameless promotion of abortion.”

The Biden Administration’s Interim Final Rule (IFR) authorizes the VA to provide taxpayer-funded abortions and abortion counseling to veterans, as well as eligible spouses and dependents, in direct conflict with both federal and state law.

Since 1992, the Veteran’s Administration has been statutorily prohibited from using taxpayer dollars for abortion. But on September 9, 2022, the Biden Administration disregarded this prohibition and issued a new rule (“Reproductive Health Services,” 87 FR 55287) which includes funding of abortion for “health reasons.”

The undefined reference to health will mean, as in Doe v. Bolton (the companion case to Roe v. Wade), that abortions can be done for virtually any reason. The Court held in Doe that, “medical judgment may be exercised in the light of all factors—physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age—relevant to the wellbeing of the patient. All these factors may relate to health.”

For the past 30 years, abortion has been allowed in the rare cases where the mother was faced with an emergency situation or life-threatening complication. Because there is nothing in the IFR which defines health, the health exception is not limited in any way. This means the VA is now providing abortion on demand, with no limits.

“The IFR is the latest in a long string of actions the Biden Administration has taken to promote abortion, regardless of how it violates state and federal laws regarding abortion,” said Tobias. “This Administration is attempting to get around state laws that protect unborn children—regardless of any state laws that protect unborn babies.”

Federal law cannot immunize VA employees from state laws on abortions. Federal law expressly prohibits the VA from providing abortions.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.