CV NEWS FEED // Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese of Military Services (AMS) slammed the Department of Veteran Affairs’ (VA) new permanent policy allowing its medical centers to perform abortions in all nine months of pregnancy, saying that the policy “is at odds with the notion that the military protects the innocent.”
“The notion that killing an unborn child can somehow be considered ‘medical or surgical care’ certainly violates the dignity of the human person and suggests that some lives are more important than others,” Broglio stated, according to a March 7 press release:
I deplore this decision that once more removes the right to life for the defenseless and inflicts untold physical and psychological trauma on mothers.
The new pro-abortion policy was finalized and implemented on March 4, according to Catholic News Agency, which noted that “the policy has already been in effect on a temporary basis” since 2022, and “will take permanent effect on April 3.” From 2022 to 2023, the VA Medical Centers performed 88 abortions.
“Under the rule, the VA is authorized to perform abortions on service members and their family members in its health care facilities in cases of rape, incest, and to preserve the life or health of the mother,” CNA reported.
>> Read: Leaked Memo from the VA Promotes Abortions, ‘Trans’ Agenda <<
Broglio explained that his archdiocese and the entire United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) objected to the VA’s abortion policy in its interim form in 2023, noting “that the VA Secretary exceeded his authority in expanding the definition of ‘medical or surgical care’ to include abortion….”
“In its comments with the final rule, the Department of Veterans Affairs agreed that the Secretary has absolutely no authority to allow for abortion within section 106 of Veterans Health Care Act, writing, the [cited] Act ‘barred the provision of abortion,’” Broglio continued.
“However, nonsensically, the Department claims that other statutes, which never mention abortion, create in their silence, a right to abortion, even though abortion is specifically prohibited within the larger statutory scheme for VA Health Care,” he stated:
The VA notes that including ‘abortion’ is a ‘general versus specific canon of statutory construction.’ This bald rhetoric ignores logic and basic tenets of statutory construction, and belies a relentless ideological pursuit of abortion even when it is plainly contrary to law.
>> Read: Senate Votes Down Resolution Against Military Taxpayer-Funded Abortions <<
Broglio said that the pro-abortion policy “is at odds with the notion that the military protects the innocent,” as it “affirms [the VA’s] decision to join what Pope Francis called ‘hit men’ – those who choose ‘to do away with a human life to solve a problem.'”
