Two Republican senators thwarted a bipartisan effort Wednesday to overturn the Biden administration’s coverage that permits the Veterans Administration to carry out taxpayer-funded abortions.
The transfer to rescind the VA’s new abortion coverage was rejected on a vote of 51 to 48, when Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined all however one Democrat — Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia — in voting in opposition to the proposal.
The decision had been unlikely to grow to be regulation, as a result of it lacked the votes to override a threatened veto by President Biden. The White House stated Wednesday the laws “invites political interference into deeply personal decisions made by pregnant veterans and … beneficiaries in consultation with their health care providers, threatening their health and lives.”
The laws “would mean that veterans who are raped would not have access to the care they need,” the Office of Management and Budget stated.
The Senate flooring battle is the most recent signal that the Pentagon and the Veterans Administration are being drawn extra deeply into the nationwide debate over the right restrictions on abortion within the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling final yr putting down Roe v. Wade.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin introduced final fall within the wake of the Roe choice that the Pentagon would proceed to supply reproductive well being companies, together with entry to abortion, to members of the navy and even pay for service members to journey for abortion care if they’re primarily based in a state that forbids or severely restricts the bundle. Prominent Republicans on Capitol Hill have vowed to battle what they are saying is a “woke” coverage from the Pentagon that conflicts with longstanding federal pointers on abortion.
Wednesday’s decision underneath the Congressional Review Act required solely a majority vote within the Senate to cross.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, Alabama Republican and a lead sponsor of the measure, stated the VA’s coverage is unlawful as a result of Congress has lengthy blocked the usage of federal funds to pay for abortions.
“It’s wrong, and it’s an abuse of taxpayer dollars,” Mr. Tuberville stated. “The administration needs to follow the law.”
He stated the administration is the Supreme Court ruling as an “excuse” to develop abortion companies. The lawmaker has already been blocking the fast affirmation of scores of senior navy officers within the Senate in a bid to drive a vote on the Pentagon’s new abortion pointers.
The VA has offered 34 abortions since September, and the company estimated that the coverage will price taxpayers about $2.1 million within the first yr.
Mr. Manchin, who voted for Mr. Tuberville’s proposal, stated the administration’s coverage violates the Hyde Amendment, laws that yearly prohibits federal funding of abortions besides in circumstances of rape, incest or when the mom’s life is in danger.
“If this is to be changed, it should be voted upon,” Mr. Manchin stated.
The White House stated the VA coverage “was a direct response to abortion restrictions that were creating serious risks to the life and health of our nation’s veterans.”
“Access to world-class reproductive health services is essential for preserving the life and health of veterans and … beneficiaries,” stated the assertion from OMB.
Ms. Murkowski instructed Military.com she opposed the decision as a result of she believed the VA coverage as drafted did conform to the rules within the Hyde Amendment.
A lawsuit in federal court docket in Texas can be in search of to overturn the VA coverage. Stephanie Carter, a VA worker and a Christian nurse practitioner, says that being requested to manage abortions in circumstances aside from to guard the lifetime of the pregnant affected person violates her “sincerely held religious beliefs.”
The case is being heard by U.S. District Judge Alan Albright, who was nominated by President Donald Trump.
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