USA will make abortion access easier for military retirees and their families, albeit with limitations, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced Friday, in the latest effort by the Biden administration to defend the right to the procedure.
The decision comes after the conservative US Supreme Court struck down the decades-old federal abortion right in June, returning the decision on whether or not to allow it to individual states.
The department “will provide access to abortions when the life or health of the pregnant veteran is in danger if the pregnancy is carried to term, or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest,” a statement said.
He added that measures are being taken to guarantee former soldiers and other beneficiaries abortion-related care anywhere in the country.
There are nearly 1,300 health centers in the United States serving nine million veterans and their families.
Doctors at these centers will be able to perform abortions even if the state where they work prohibits it because they are federal employees, the department clarified in the text.
At least 13 states have already banned or severely restricted access to abortion since the Supreme Court decision, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which works for the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy.
President Joe Biden has tried to reduce the scope of the restrictions, but his initiatives have been limited in a country where presidential power is controlled by the powers of the states, Congress and the Supreme Court.
