No Abortions, Pride Flags or Transgender Care: Republicans Use Spending Bill to Block VA Policies – By Rebecca Kheel (Military.com) / June 13, 2023
House Republicans moved Tuesday to block the Department of Veterans Affairs from providing abortion services, flying LGBTQ+ pride flags at its facilities, and providing gender-affirmation surgery or hormones to transgender veterans.
The effort, made by GOP lawmakers in the annual VA spending bill, aims to stop the agency from following policies it sees as welcoming to women and LGBTQ+ people. Gay civil rights, transgender health care and abortion have all come under increasing attack from politicians on the right ahead of the 2024 presidential race.
The amendment to the spending bill barring the VA activities — approved in a party-line 34-27 vote in the House Appropriations Committee — takes aim at Biden administration policies that Republicans have spent months griping about. They vowed to roll back the policies when they took the House majority at the beginning of the year.
