On April 19, the Senate is expected to vote on a Republican-led effort to try and roll back access to abortion and reproductive healthcare in VA facilities
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On April 19, Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17) spoke out against the Senate’s upcoming vote to roll back the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Interim Final Rule (IFR) allowing the VA to provide abortion care to its veteran patients in some cases. This IFR, issued in September 2022, gives the VA the ability to provide abortion care and counseling to veterans when the life or health of the pregnant veteran would be endangered if the pregnancy were carried to term, or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.
Congressman Deluzio is Vice Ranking Member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee (HVAC) and sits on the HVAC Subcommittees on Health and Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs. A Naval Academy graduate and Iraq War veteran who led Americans in uniform, Congressman Deluzio believes that his fellow veterans should get the healthcare they need after their service to the country, especially if a pregnancy would put their life at risk.
Ahead of the Senate vote, Rep. Deluzio released the following statement:
“This Senate effort to strip away veterans’ reproductive and abortion healthcare in VA facilities endangers a sacred pact our nation has with my fellow veterans who have bravely served and sacrificed for our country,” said Rep. Deluzio. “It’s not patriotic to deny veterans their earned healthcare or to interfere in their personal medical decisions – especially when it may be a matter of life or death. It’s an attack on veteran women’s reproductive freedom, and I intend to fight it.”
The Senate will conduct a roll call vote on S.J. Res.10 at 4:15pm ET today, April 19th. This effort is led by Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, who has spent the last few weeks blocking military promotions on the Senate Armed Services Committee as a tactic to try and force this vote to remove reproductive healthcare at some VA facilities.
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