Pro-life advocates are applauding President Donald Trump’s latest move to roll back a Biden-era rule that allowed abortions at taxpayer-funded veterans’ hospitals, marking a major policy shift in the ongoing national debate over abortion rights.

In a proposed rule published in the Federal Register, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced its intention to reverse a 2022 regulation implemented under President Joe Biden. That rule authorized VA hospitals to perform abortions and provide abortion counseling in limited cases — including rape, incest, and when the mother’s life was at risk — even in states with strict abortion bans.

The Biden policy came in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade and returned the issue of abortion to the states. In the wake of that ruling, many states enacted near-total bans, prompting the Biden administration to expand abortion access through federal entities like the VA.

However, the Trump administration is now moving to undo that expansion.

“We believe the 2022 interim final rule was not only inappropriate as a matter of fact but also was legally questionable,” the VA’s newly proposed rule states, citing the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992. According to the law, the VA is permitted to provide “general reproductive health care” — but specifically excludes “infertility services, abortions, or pregnancy care (including prenatal and delivery care).”

The Trump administration emphasized that medical treatment for life-threatening conditions — such as ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages — was always allowed under VA policy and remains so under the proposed change. The proposal clarifies that the abortion ban “does not apply ‘when a physician certifies that the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term.'”

VA Secretary Doug Collins signed the proposal on July 24. A 30-day public comment period, mandated by federal law, is now underway and will close on September 3.

Pro-life leaders were quick to praise the administration’s action.

“We thank President Trump and VA Secretary Collins for restoring the rule of law and ending the Biden administration’s illegal policy that forced taxpayers to fund abortions through VA hospitals and violated state pro-life laws,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.

Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life, called the proposed rule a “return to longstanding policy” and a reaffirmation of the VA’s mission to provide “life-affirming, medically necessary care to our veterans and their families.”

She continued, “This is a welcome correction to the overreach by the pro-abortion Biden administration that bypassed Congress and ignored the clear will of the American people.”

The move signals the Trump administration’s continued commitment to pro-life values and its intent to align federal policy with state laws that protect unborn life. For many in the faith community, it’s an exciting step toward restoring a culture that respects both mothers and their unborn children.