TRENTON — New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin today joined a coalition of six attorneys general in sending a letter to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought requesting a meeting to urge the Trump Administration to preserve a federal rule that provides veterans and their families access to vital reproductive health services, including abortion care.

The rule at issue, the “Reproductive Health Services” Rule, permits the VA medical benefits package and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) to provide abortion counseling for all pregnancies and abortion services in situations where the patient’s life or health is threatened and in cases of self-reported rape or incest. The Trump Administration has indicated it is currently reviewing the Rule and has held meetings with other stakeholders on the Rule.

“Veterans who have served our country deserve access to quality health care across the board, and that includes reproductive and abortion care,” said Attorney General Platkin. “Unfortunately, we have significant concerns about the fate of the VA’s rule allowing veterans access to critical reproductive health services. It’s critical that President Trump’s appointees understand the importance of reproductive health care to our veterans and the severe hardships that would result from blocking their access to these vital medical services.  We’ll do everything in our power to prevent the cruel rollback of these key regulations.”

On September 2, 2022, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the VA announced the interim version of the Reproductive Health Services Rule. On October 11, 2022, Attorney General Platkin joined a coalition of 23 attorneys general in filing a comment letter supporting the VA’s efforts to increase reproductive freedom. After receiving public comment, the VA finalized the Rule on March 4, 2024. Since the Dobbs decision, at least 19 states have banned or restricted abortion care, while others are still proposing new restrictions.

In the letter, the attorneys general write that:

• The Rule fills a significant gap in healthcare for an important population, offering veterans and their families access to the same healthcare services available to many civilians. Of the 2 million women veterans in the United States, 42% use VA healthcare and are of childbearing age.
• Many pregnancy and miscarriage complications are emergency medical conditions requiring time-sensitive stabilizing treatment that can include abortion. In an emergency, any failure to provide, or delays in providing, necessary abortion care puts the pregnant patient’s life or health at risk.
• Permitting abortion where a pregnancy is the result of self-reported rape or incest, particularly given the prevalence of sexual violence resulting in pregnancy, is vitally important. Sexual violence is far too common in our culture and has pervasive physical and mental health consequences, which are often exacerbated by a resulting pregnancy. Veterans report higher rates of sexual trauma than their civilian peers.
• Ensuring access to abortion counseling is part of patient-centered care, which builds trust among providers and patients.
• In order to more fully outline the importance of the Rule to families in our States, we request a meeting with our staff at the soonest possible date.

Joining Attorney General Platkin sending today’s letter are the attorneys general of California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, and Washington.

A copy of the letter can be found here. General background on OMB meetings can be found here.

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