Latest news with #HydeAmendment
Newsweek
4 days ago
- Health
- Newsweek
VA Plans Major Change to Healthcare Benefits
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced it plans to scale back abortion access under its healthcare programs. Why It Matters The decision would reverse a policy put in place in September 2022, following the U.S. Supreme Court's June ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that protected a pregnant woman's right to choose to have an abortion. The 2022 policy allowed federal funds to be used to pay for abortion care for veterans and eligible dependents in cases of rape, incest, and danger to the life or health of the mother. Critics argue the VA move could leave veterans without reproductive care options, especially in states with strict abortion bans. What To Know In a notice published Monday in the Federal Register, the department said it would reinstate a pre-2022 rule that excludes abortion services from coverage except when a pregnancy poses a threat to the life of the mother. It would apply to medical benefits packages for veterans and their dependents. At the time of the 2022 change, then-VA Secretary Denis McDonough said the decision had been made to protect patient safety. The change also made it possible for abortion care to be provided in states which had limited access to reproductive care following the overturn. The change garnered scrutiny from conservative lawmakers, who argued it exceeded the limits set by the Hyde Amendment—a federal provision that restricts the use of government funds for abortions unless the life of the mother is in danger. Stock image/file photo: Signboard of United States Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington DC. Stock image/file photo: Signboard of United States Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington DC. GETTY The department said in its proposal that it wanted to ensure it "provides only needed medical services to our nation's heroes and their families." It will continue to provide coverage for Veterans experiencing miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies. Anti-abortion Republicans have praised the rollback as a victory for taxpayers and the sanctity of life, while abortion-rights advocates condemned it as a dangerous denial of care, arguing it strips veterans of bodily autonomy and puts their health and dignity at risk. What People Are Saying Republicans on the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs said in a statement: "It was wrong that the Biden administration violated settled law in 2022 and began offering abortion services through VA. We pushed back hard on this disastrous policy over the last two years to hold the Biden-Harris administration accountable and protect the lives of the unborn. It's simple–taxpayers do not want their hard-earned money spent on paying for abortions—and VA's sole focus should always be providing service-connected health care and benefits to the veterans they serve. House Republicans, alongside President Trump, will always stand up for the sanctity of life—today's decision by Secretary Collins makes that message perfectly clear." Alexis McGill Johnson, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement on Monday: "Those who fight for all our freedom must have the most basic freedom to control their own bodies and futures—and this rule robs them of it. Taking away access to heath care shows us that the Trump administration will always put politics and retribution over people's lives." Nancy Northup, president and CEO at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement: "After veterans put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms, the Trump administration is trying to rob them of their own freedoms and putting their health at risk. This administration is sending a clear message to veterans—that their health and dignity aren't worth defending. To devalue veterans in this way and take away life-changing health care would be unconscionable. This shows you just how extreme this administration's anti-abortion stance is—they would rather a veteran suffer severely than receive an abortion." What's Next The proposal will be open for a 30-day public comment period until September 3.
The Hill
29-07-2025
- Health
- The Hill
States sue to stop Trump administration from defunding Planned Parenthood
More than 20 states filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Department of Health and Human Services, challenging a provision in President Trump's enormous tax and spending package that bars certain health care nonprofits from receiving Medicaid reimbursements. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA) includes a provision that bars health care nonprofits that provide abortions and received more than $800,000 in federal funding in 2023 from being able to get Medicaid reimbursements for one year. The provision primarily impacts Planned Parenthood affiliates, but at least two other organizations that provide abortion care will also be affected: Maine Family Planning and Health Imperatives in Massachusetts. The coalition behind the lawsuit includes Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, along with 21 attorneys general, such as New York's Letitia James and Maine's Aaron Frey. Lawmakers are seeking a court order declaring the OBBA provision unconstitutional and pausing its implementation. 'The federal government is once again playing politics with our health care system, with devastating consequences,' James wrote in a statement. 'The administration's shameful and illegal targeting of Planned Parenthood will make it harder for millions of people to get the health care they need. New York will not be bullied into enforcing this unconstitutional attack on health care and reproductive freedom.' Since the 1970s, a federal law called the Hyde Amendment has made it illegal for federal dollars to pay for abortion services with a few exceptions, such as if the pregnancy endangers the life of the pregnant person or was the result of rape or incest. The attorneys general and Shapiro argue that because of this federal law, the provision will deny low-income Americans access to lifesaving care like cancer screenings and sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment. Plaintiffs argue that the provision also harms states financially in two ways, according to the lawsuit. Medicaid is funded by both the federal government and state governments. But now, the financial responsibility for keeping Planned Parenthood clinics open will fall entirely on states. The lack of federal Medicaid funding will also likely cause Planned Parenthood clinics to close, which will 'cripple' medical health care ecosystems and increase long-term medical care costs. The lawsuit is the latest development in a legal saga following the OBBA's signing earlier this month. After Trump signed the OBBA into law, Planned Parenthood sued, arguing that the provision specifically targets the organization's affiliates for advocating for providing abortion care outside the Medicaid system. A U.S. district judge granted Planned Parenthood its request for a temporary injunction, which was extended last week. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services said states should not be forced to fund organizations that have chosen 'political advocacy over patient care.' 'It's a shame that these Democrat attorneys general seek to undermine state flexibility and disregard longstanding concerns about accountability,' said Andrew Nixon, director of communications at HHS. Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood lauded the attempt to block the provision. 'Not all healthcare providers accept Medicaid, but Planned Parenthood does,' wrote Nicole Clegg, CEO or Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. 'Without us, people will lose access to basic health care like cancer screenings, birth control, and disease testing and treatment.'
The Intercept
29-07-2025
- Health
- The Intercept
Trump Prepares to Revoke Lifesaving Abortion Care for Veterans
President Donald Trump appears poised to institute an abortion ban for hospitals run by the Department of Veterans Affairs — escalating his war on reproductive health care by revoking veterans' access to abortion. The Office of Management and Budget concluded its review last week of a Veterans Affairs rule titled Reproductive Health Services, clearing the way to implement it at the VA. Experts believe the rule is a reversal of a Biden-era policy of the same name which ended the agency's ban on abortion counseling for veterans and allowed for VA providers to offer abortion services in limited circumstances, such as rape, incest, or endangerment of a pregnant person's life or health. If the policy is overturned, hundreds of thousands of veterans in states with abortion bans could lose access to abortion care and counseling. Sarah Baker, the digital director for the Center for Reproductive Rights, said the change appears to be 'the first nationwide abortion ban that Trump is supporting and putting in place.' The new rule has not yet been published, and until it is, experts can't be certain what exactly is in it. The VA did not respond to The Intercept's request for comment. But Rachel Fey, vice president of policy and strategic partnerships at the reproductive and sexual health advocacy organization Power to Decide, said that based on the Trump administration's posture and explicit calls in Project 2025 to reverse the Biden policy, she expects one of two outcomes. 'We think either they would roll back the exceptions to an extremely narrow set that mimics the Hyde Amendment,' Fey said, referring to a law that bars federal funds from being used for abortion care except in cases of rape, incest, or to save a person's life. (The Hyde Amendment does not allow exceptions to preserve a person's health in non-fatal circumstances, as the Biden rule does.) Or, Fey said, another possibility is 'just striking [the Biden rule] entirely and saying abortion is not allowed in any circumstances at the VA.' The Biden administration implemented the Reproductive Health Services rule for the VA in 2024, two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Though the rule only allows VA hospitals to provide abortions in extreme circumstances, it was designed to provide basic protections in states that moved quickly to institute abortion bans. Read Our Complete Coverage Over half of all women veterans of reproductive age in the U.S. live in states where abortion is banned or likely to be banned, according to analysis from the National Partnership for Women & Families. 'So that's 345,000 women veterans that live in states that have banned or are likely to ban abortion,' said Jaclyn Dean, director of congressional relations, reproductive health, at the National Partnership for Women & Families. 'For many of the women veterans living in any of those 12 states with total abortion bans, the VA is the only place that they can get abortion care. So you can expect those people to lose abortion care in cases of rape, incest, in the life and health of the pregnant person.' In that climate, Fey stressed, even narrowing the exceptions could be devastating. 'What we've seen in states like Texas and Idaho is women coming close to death, suffering the loss of future fertility sometimes, suffering long-term disability because they were not given the standard clinical care they needed when they needed it,' Fey said. 'That's what we're talking about when we get to a life exception versus a health exception.' Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., who co-authored a letter in April opposing the rule change along with 130 House Democrats, said reversing the Biden rule was a 'betrayal.' 'As a physician, I trained at the VA, where a sign at the entrance read: 'The price of freedom is visible here.' Our veterans sacrificed everything for this country, and in return, we promised them the best care possible,' Dexter wrote in a statement to The Intercept. 'For Trump to reinstate a complete ban on abortion care and counseling at the VA – even in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life or health of the mother — is an utter betrayal of that promise.' Veterans also face unique health risks related to pregnancy, said Baker with the Center for Reproductive Rights. 'Pregnancy is just riskier for veterans,' said Baker, 'because of the different health risks that they face, higher rates of sexual assault, higher rates of PTSD … and the higher [rates of] other chronic conditions.' And restricting or cutting off access to abortion would only compound the additional barriers to accessing quality health care that veterans already face, Fey noted. 'Serving in the U.S. military is often a way out of poverty for a lot of people in this country, and because of systemic racism, a disproportionate number of the people looking for that way out are Black and brown women when they serve in the military,' said Fey. 'When we talk about reproductive health care in this country, the harms don't fall equally.' The Trump administration has been steadily chipping away at policies put in place by President Joe Biden to protect access to reproductive health care. In June, Trump rescinded guidance from the Biden administration that directed hospitals under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act to provide stabilizing treatment to patients in medical emergencies — including abortion care. 'It's all part of this larger plan of extremists to ban abortion wherever they can and to interfere with people's personal medical decisions,' said Dean. 'They're weaponizing control over veterans' health care, instead of doing what's actually best for our country's veterans, which is giving them the health care that they need.'
The Hill
21-07-2025
- Health
- The Hill
Lawmakers re-introduce bill to repeal Hyde Amendment
The Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH) Act would repeal the Hyde Amendment, which since 1976 has barred federal funding from being used to pay for abortions except in rare circumstances like rape, incest or when the woman's life is in danger. Aside from Medicaid, the ban also means federal employees and their dependents, military service members, Native Americans and Indigenous people, Peace Corps volunteers, immigrants, people in federal prisons, and low-income residents of Washington, D.C. are all prohibited from having insurance cover abortions. As of 2024, more than 5 million women aged 15 to 49 who are enrolled in Medicaid live in States where abortion is legal but not covered by the program except in Hyde-allowable circumstances. 'With Trump and Republicans advancing a cruel, coordinated assault on our bodily autonomy—gutting Medicaid, defunding Planned Parenthood, and decimating access to care—we must meet use every tool available to protect and expand reproductive healthcare,' Pressley said in a statement. 'By repealing the racist and discriminatory Hyde Amendment, which has denied necessary care for vulnerable communities for nearly half a century, our bill would help ensure everyone in America can get the reproductive healthcare they need, regardless of income, insurance, or zip code.' The bill would also prevent the federal government from prohibiting or restricting coverage of abortion care by private health insurance companies, including those participating in the ObamaCare insurance exchanges. The legislation was previously introduced in 2023, a year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and ruled there is no constitutional right to an abortion. Democrats leaned almost exclusively into abortion during the 2024 campaign. The latest reintroduction, on top of other congressional reproductive health bills, shows Democrats aren't going to let the issue go, though the message has been diversified.
Fox News
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Biden-era policy indirectly paying for unaccompanied minors' abortions rescinded by Trump DOJ
The Trump administration reversed a Biden-era legal opinion from the Department of Justice on Thursday that permitted taxpayer dollars to be used for ancillary services associated with helping someone obtain an abortion, such as transportation costs. The policy was particularly used in aiding unaccompanied minor migrants to get abortions, according to the Trump administration. In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022, the Health and Human Services Department took the view that taxpayer dollars – even though prohibited by Congress from being used to pay for abortions directly under the Hyde Amendment – could be used to provide transportation services for patients seeking an abortion. The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), charged with interpreting the laws for the president and executive branch agencies, agreed at the time under the Biden administration. However, that interpretation and opinion have been upended after Trump's OLC issued a new one Thursday that bars taxpayer funds from going toward any "ancillary services" that might help someone get an abortion. The 2022 Biden-era OLC opinion formed the basis for HHS's Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to use federal funds to help unaccompanied minors obtain transportation and other services in support of getting an abortion, according to the July 11 opinion released Thursday. "Current regulations require ORR to 'ensure that all unaccompanied children in ORR custody… be provided with… access to… family planning services,' and recognize that 'transportation across State lines and associated ancillary services' may be 'necessary to access' such 'family planning services,'" the new opinion stated. "Where such transportation services are necessary for an individual to obtain an abortion, the associated costs constitute the kind of indirect expense that the post-1993 Hyde Amendment limits," the opinion continues. "Under current circumstances, interstate transportation expenses could dwarf the cost of the abortion procedure itself. It would thus be inconsistent with longstanding congressional policy – as reflected in the Hyde Amendment's textual bar on 'expend[itures] for any abortion' – for HHS to fund such expenses merely because they do not go directly to the person or entity performing the abortion." In 1993, Congress changed the statutory language of the Hyde Amendment, which resulted in years of disputes over the measure's interpretation. The new OLC opinion released Thursday argues that the 1993 change expanded the Hyde Amendment to include anything done in service of someone receiving an abortion, not just the abortion itself. Fox News Digital did not receive a response from the Justice Department prior to publication of this story. The move to strengthen the Hyde Amendment's protections follows the president's Executive Order 14182, instructing agencies to "end the forced use of Federal taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortion."
