Attorney General Paxton has joined a Mississippi-led amicus brief supporting an injunction against a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) rule that allows veterans and certain beneficiaries to get elective, taxpayer-funded abortions. The brief has been filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, in Waco, Texas, on behalf of a VA nurse who opposes the new rule.
In September 2022, the VA enacted a new rule that veterans and their beneficiaries can get taxpayer-funded abortions, which marked a sharp departure from the VA’s previous policy. Not only does the VA lack the statutory authority to institute such a change, but the rule violates federal laws that prohibit the VA from providing abortion services on-demand.
That the VA has decided to act unlawfully in lockstep with the rest of the Biden Administration and its pro-abortion agenda is deeply concerning for our federalist system of government. The Dobbs decision made clear that the responsibility for creating laws governing abortion rests primarily with the states, not the federal government.
The brief states: “The severe problems catalogued above reveal the unsettling truth that animates the rule. The fact that States already soundly legislate in this area suggests that the real motivation behind the VA’s rule is to create a mechanism for allowing purely elective abortions that States have properly prohibited or to send a political signal to the Administration’s political base—or both.”
Prior to submitting the amicus brief, Attorney General Paxton sent a letter to the VA challenging the new rule.
To read the full amicus brief, click here.