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Health Care

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The Big Story

Proposed rule bans nearly all abortions at VA hospitals

Pregnant veterans would no longer be able to receive an abortion in a hospital operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs, including in cases of rape or incest or when a pregnancy threatens their health, the Trump administration proposed Monday.

(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

The VA said in the proposal that it is reversing a 2022 rule that for the first time allowed the department to provide abortions in limited circumstances to pregnant veterans and their eligible family members, even in states that banned abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Between 1999 and 2022, the VA excluded almost all abortions and abortion counseling for veterans and their families from their medical benefits package.

By reversing the rule, officials are seeking to ensure taxpayer dollars are not used to terminate pregnancies, according to a filing released Friday. They also called the Biden administration’s decision to implement the interim rule “inappropriate” and “legally questionable.”

A final rule could come as soon as the public comment period on the measure closes on Sept. 3.

Reproductive rights groups said the move robbed service members of the ability to control their bodies and their futures.

“Since taking office, the Trump administration has repeatedly attacked service members, veterans, and their families’ access to basic reproductive care, including gender-affirming care,” Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said, referring to the VA’s decision in March to stop providing transgender veterans with hormone therapy.

“Taking away access to health care shows us that the Trump administration will always put politics and retribution over people’s lives.”

Anti-abortion groups, meanwhile, applauded the Trump administration’s decision, calling it a “major win” for the movement.

“Instead of prioritizing the real and urgent needs of our veterans, the Biden-Harris Administration turned VA hospitals into abortion centers – violating longstanding law and betraying the will of the American people who strongly oppose forced taxpayer-funded abortions,” the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America said in a statement.

“Thankfully, this injustice is now corrected.”

Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel, Joseph Choi and Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.

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Essential Reads

How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond:

RFK Jr. ‘reviewing’ ouster of preventive task force members

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Monday he is “reviewing” whether to remove all members of an influential advisory committee that offers guidance about preventive health services. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is composed of medical experts who serve four-year terms on a volunteer basis. They are appointed by the HHS secretary and are supposed to be shielded from political influence. …

Full Story

New Hampshire becomes first Northeastern state to ban gender-affirming care for minors

New Hampshire is the first Northeastern state to ban gender-affirming health care for minors after its Republican governor gave final approval to bills that will ban the use of certain prescription medications and surgeries to treat gender dysphoria beginning next year. Gov. Kelly Ayotte, a former U.S. senator who won New Hampshire’s gubernatorial election in November, signed two bills Friday restricting access to transition-related …

Full Story

Where the summer COVID-19 infections are hitting hardest

The number of people with COVID-19 in the U.S. is low but increasing, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data released Friday. COVID-19 is trending up in many mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Southern, and West Coast states. The agency said infections are “growing or likely growing” in 40 states, based on emergency department visit data as of July 29. Infections were unchanged in nine states. The weekly …

Full Story

In Other News

Branch out with a different read:

Flu, COVID can reawaken dormant breast cancer cells: Study

Respiratory infections like COVID-19 and the flu can activate dormant cancer cells in breast cancer patients who are in remission, new research finds. The study, published in Nature, found that common viruses can reawaken small numbers of dormant breast cancer cells in the lungs. Researchers began investigating the link after the team noticed that U.K. patients who were in remission from breast cancer and tested positive for …

Full Story

Around the Nation

Local and state headlines on health care:

California removes 900,000 people from health care plan (Newsweek)
W.Va. becomes first to implement synthetic dye ban in school foods (WV Public broadcasting)
Lamont nixed overdose prevention centers, but advocates fight on (CT Mirror)

What We’re Reading

Health news we’ve flagged from other outlets:

A cancer patient chose assisted death. That wasn’t the last hard choice (The New York Times)
Google’s healthcare AI made up a body part—what happens when a doctor doesn’t notice? (the Verge)
Gates Foundation pledges $2.5 billion to women’s health initiatives (Stat)

What People Think

Opinions related to health submitted to The Hill:

AI holds great promise for health care, and Trump’s action plan is a good first step
Bipartisan Senate price transparency bill can fix US health care