WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR), along with Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Congressman Michael Cloud (R-TX-27) and 64 of their colleagues, introduced a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to nullify an illegal U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rule providing abortion services through the taxpayer-funded VA health care system.

“Congress must ensure taxpayers aren’t forced to violate their deeply held religious beliefs by subsidizing abortion through the VA,” Boozman said. “The department has no legal authority to enact this policy and should remain focused on its core mission to deliver services and benefits that treat, heal and support veterans. My colleagues and I are determined to protect Americans’ conscience rights and ensure VA resources and personnel are not misused at the expense of unborn children.”

“Using our VA medical facilities to provide publicly-funded abortions is an unconstitutional abuse of the system, and it will not be tolerated,” said Tuberville. “No taxpayer should be forced to pay for abortion services that disregard the will of millions of Americans in states with legal protections for life, rightfully upheld by the Supreme Court last year. The interim final rule highlights this administration’s willingness to ignore the law and exploit limited federal resources to serve their extreme abortion agenda.” 

“The Biden Administration continues to advance their radical abortion on demand agenda, this time through the Department of Veterans Affairs,” said Cloud. “Directing the Department of Veterans Affairs to perform abortions is a clear abuse of the law and it forces taxpayers to fund abortions, something the majority of Americans oppose. I will always be a voice for the unborn and oppose taxpayer funded abortions.”

The VA published the interim final rule in September 2022, just a few months after the Supreme Court issued its decision to reverse Roe v. Wade and return the decision to legislate on abortion to the American people and individual states. Not only does the rule set up VA medical facilities to blatantly violate state laws, it’s also in clear conflict with Section 106 of the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992, which explicitly prohibits the VA from providing abortion services. Notably, the rule also extends abortion services to certain veterans’ dependents and fails to provide any conscience protections for VA medical staff.

The CRA provides Congress an expedited mechanism to overturn certain federal agency regulations and actions through a joint resolution of disapproval. A joint resolution of disapproval under the CRA is afforded special procedures, bypassing normal Senate rules and allowing for a vote on the Senate floor. If a CRA joint resolution of disapproval is approved by a simple majority in both houses of Congress and signed by the President—or if Congress successfully overrides a presidential veto—the rule is invalidated.

The resolution introduced is endorsed by Susan B. Anthony Pro Life-America, March for Life, National Right to Life, Catholic Vote, Heritage Action and Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee.

Cosponsors of the resolution in the U.S. Senate include Senators James Lankford (R-OK), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), James Risch (R-ID), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Rick Scott (R-FL), John Thune (R-SD), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Deb Fischer (R-NE), John Hoeven (R-ND), Mike Lee (R-UT), Mike Braun (R-IN), Katie Britt (R-AL), J.D. Vance (R-OH), John Cornyn (R-TX), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Jerry Moran (R-KS).