SW News: As many as 50 pro-life groups have warned the American Congress over the current administration's intermediate final rule (IFR), which expressly authorizes VA healthcare professionals to perform abortions.

The organizations voiced concern that an increase of $71 million in public money going to the Department of Veterans Affairs' Office of Women's Health would be improperly utilized to finance abortions.

“Women veterans should receive high-quality healthcare that promotes life. Instead, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has supported an illegal plan to perform abortions at veterans' health facilities in defiance of both state and federal law, prioritizing abortion radicalism,” reads the common letter written by various pro-life outfits.

The government unilaterally disregarded the long-standing legal ban on taxpayer paying for abortion at the VA on September 9 and released the new rule that includes supporting abortion for medical grounds. “Federal law can override state law. However, in this case, there is no such federal law allowing for abortion, but rather a federal law prohibiting funding for abortion. This blatant disregard for the law and the will of the people is just one in a series of efforts by the current administration to appease the demands of the radical abortion lobby,” they said.

“The pro-abortion Biden administration consistently prioritizes abortion on demand until birth, paid for by taxpayers, over authentic women’s healthcare. We urge Congress to ensure that taxpayer dollars meant to support the health and well-being of our women veterans are used only for that purpose, not to promote the killing of unborn children.”

A majority of Americans—54%—oppose taxpayer funding of abortion, according to a number of polls conducted over the years. Though doctors consistently state that abortions are never medically necessary, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced it intends to terminate pregnancy in cases of rape, incest, or in situations where the mother's life or health is in jeopardy.

In addition to breaking federal law, which forbids taxpayer-funded VA medical clinics from performing abortions, President Joe Biden's action also contravenes the Dobbs ruling, which granted states the authority to protect unborn children from abortions. Biden’s move is in violation of Section 106 of the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992, which specifically prohibits the VA from providing abortion.