Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio / Archdiocese for the Military, USA (Left), jetcityimage / stock.adobe.com (Right)
Following the Department of Veterans Affairs’ recent decision to rescind its Biden-era abortion policy, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio responded with a statement Aug. 4 thanking federal leaders and affirming the moral significance of the move.
“I am deeply grateful to VA Secretary Doug Collins and President Trump for returning to the prior policy that prohibits the use of federal funds to end the life of the preborn in the womb,” said Archbishop Broglio, who serves as Archbishop for the Military Services, USA. “It is only fitting that an agency established to care for those who so often put their lives on the line to defend the innocent is freed from participation in procedures that do not support innocent life.”
The archbishop’s comments came shortly after the VA announced its intent to withdraw the Biden-era regulation that had expanded the availability of abortion procedures through VA health benefits and medical centers.
CatholicVote reported that the rule change, announced Aug. 2, will formally rescind abortion services from VA programs such as Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) and will effectively reverse the 2022 rule that allowed VA medical centers to perform abortions.
The rule, initially pushed forward by the Biden administration, sparked significant backlash among pro-life advocates and religious leaders. Friday’s announcement marks a significant policy shift and follows growing calls from Catholic and military leaders for the VA to honor the sanctity of life in its medical practices.
Archbishop Broglio has consistently raised objections to the VA’s role in facilitating abortion. In March 2024, he condemned the department’s then-new policy permitting abortions at VA facilities throughout all nine months of pregnancy, stating that such procedures “violate the dignity of the human person.”
At the time, he called the move a betrayal of the agency’s mission and decried the “untold physical and psychological trauma on mothers” such policies would inflict.
The archbishop had also previously urged the administration to reverse the VA’s 2022 rule permitting abortions at veterans’ medical facilities. In February, after President Trump ended taxpayer-funded abortion travel for service members, Archbishop Broglio called the VA’s rule “deeply troubling” and expressed hope it would be “cancelled soon.”
