This week, U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) and U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) joined 38 of their Republican colleagues in Congress in a letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs asking the department to stop illegal abortions in its facilities.
The letter was addressed to VA Secretary Denis R. McDonough and expressed the disagreement from the members of Congress about the new VA rule.
“We write in strong opposition to the Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) Interim Final Rule (IFR),’Reproductive Health Services,’ 87 FR 55287, RIN: 2900-AR57, published in the Federal Register on September 9, 2022,” said the letter.” The IFR directly violates the VA’s explicit statutory prohibition on abortion that has governed the VA for more than 30 years and has never been repealed.”
The members of Congress argued that the VA is going beyond its legal authority in allowing these abortions to take place on any of their campuses.
“The VA does not have the power to override an Act of Congress to impose its preferred policy of taxpayer-funded abortion on demand until birth,” said the members of Congress in the letter. “Tragically, the IFR is the latest in a long string of actions the Biden Administration has taken to promote the killing of unborn children through abortion in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.”
The letter concludes by telling the VA to stop these illegal actions immediately.
“We demand that you immediately rescind the IFR and restore the prior regulations excluding abortion and abortion counseling from the VA’s medical benefits package and the CHAMPVA program, in conformity with the law and Congressional intent,” the letter said. “We urge you, and others within the VA, to respect the dignity of our veterans and all of their family members, including unborn children, and to respect the will of the American people as reflected in Acts of Congress, by ensuring services provided and funded by the VA are focused on true healthcare consistent with federal law.”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
