The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) justified covering veterans’ elective abortions three years ago after predicting pro-life laws would supercharge abortion demand.
They were wrong — really wrong.
When the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade in 2022, the VA expanded its abortion coverage to include elective abortions. Until then, it had only covered abortions to save the life of the mother.
Last month, the VA proposed repealing the 2022 abortion expansion rule, arguing it violates the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxes from paying for abortions, and improperly subverts the judiciary.
The objectional abortion expansion was only approved, the current VA explains, after the 2022 VA predicted more than 1,000 veterans and their family members would “need” elective abortions every year once states started banning abortion.
In reality, the VA has provided about 140 abortions per year since the Supreme Court reversed Roe. That means the 2022 VA’s prediction overshot reality by a whopping 86%.
The overinflated prediction allowed the VA to jerry-rig a “right to abortion” for veterans and their family members. The 2025 VA explains:
Yet, the last administration used [the decision] to do the exact opposite, creating a purported Federal entitlement to abortion for veterans where none had existed before and without regard to State law.
In doing so, the administration predicted a high demand for VA abortions that never materialized.
The 2022 VA’s convenient “miscalculation” illustrates how the abortion industry benefits from making it seem like women, everywhere “need” abortions. The illusion of popularity makes policies supporting unregulated, elective abortions seem like “the will of the people.”
They’re not — and the VA proves the point. For three years, it has offered veterans and their families elective abortions on the cheap. If lack of abortion access has become such a crisis for women, why aren’t more taking advantage?
Take claims of ballooning abortion demand with a hefty grain of salt. If abortionists in the government can juke the stats, you can bet pro-abortion organizations are doing the same.
Additional Articles and Resources
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U.S. Military to Receive Time Off and Travel Expenses to Obtain Abortions
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