H.R. 4876: Reproductive Freedom for Veterans Act
Sponsor
Julia Brownley
Democrat · CA-26
Veterans' abortion care written into law, not VA policy
Why it matters
No line in veterans' benefits law today requires the VA to provide abortion care. Whatever the department does is set by its own regulations, and regulations change with administrations. H.R. 4876 would write the requirement into the statute itself, covering veterans enrolled in VA health care along with the spouses, children, survivors, and designated caregivers on the VA's family health benefit.
The operative change is a single sentence added to veterans' benefits law: hospital care and medical services the VA furnishes to a covered individual shall include abortion and related care, services, counseling, and medication. No circumstances are named. No conditions are attached.
The rest of the bill defines who counts, and it does so by borrowing definitions already on the books. The first group is any veteran enrolled in the VA health care system, plus veterans entitled to VA hospital care and medical services without being enrolled. The second is everyone eligible under the VA's family health benefit — spouses and children of veterans permanently and totally disabled by a service-connected condition, survivors of veterans who died from one, survivors of service members who died in the line of duty, and people formally designated as a veteran's primary caregiver who have no other coverage.
Because the bill borrows those definitions instead of writing new ones, it makes nobody newly eligible for VA health care — it changes what the people already inside the system can get there.
What the bill leaves out matters as much as what it includes. There is no appropriation, no effective date, no deadline for the VA to stand services up, and no consequence spelled out if it does not. A department that disagreed with the requirement would still have wide room to decide how fast and how thoroughly to meet it.
Julia Brownley of California introduced the bill in August 2025. It has 149 cosponsors, all Democrats. The Veterans' Affairs Committee discharged it from the Health Subcommittee and held a hearing on it in March 2026. The committee has not voted.
Bill Progress
Latest Action · Mar 18, 2026
Committee Hearings Held
H.R. 4876 Bill Summary
What H.R. 4876 actually does.
Abortion care becomes care the VA must provide
A new section of veterans' benefits law states that the hospital care and medical services the VA furnishes to a covered individual shall include abortion and related care, services, counseling, and medication.
The requirement names no exceptions
The text does not limit the care to cases of rape, incest, or danger to the patient's life or health, and attaches no conditions to it. It is written as a flat inclusion in the care the department furnishes.
Counseling and medication are listed separately
The provision names counseling and medication alongside abortion itself, so consultations and prescriptions dispensed through VA pharmacies fall inside the requirement rather than procedures alone.
Enrolled veterans are covered
The bill uses the existing definition of a covered veteran: any veteran enrolled in the VA health care system, or entitled to VA hospital care and medical services without being enrolled.
Military families on the VA's family benefit are covered too
Coverage extends to people eligible under the VA's family health program — spouses, children, and survivors of veterans permanently and totally disabled by or deceased from a service-connected condition, survivors of those who died in the line of duty, and designated primary caregivers.
No money, no deadline, no enforcement
The bill carries no appropriation, no effective date, and no stated consequence if the department does not carry the requirement out.
Who benefits from H.R. 4876?
Veterans enrolled in VA health care
For a veteran whose knee, prescriptions, and specialists all run through the VA, the bill would keep this care in the same system rather than sending them to an outside provider and an outside bill.
Rural veterans, where distance is the real barrier
For a veteran hours from the nearest provider, whether the VA facility they already drive to can furnish the care determines whether it is practically reachable at all.
Spouses, children, and survivors on the VA family benefit
The second eligibility group is the VA's family health program: spouses and children of veterans permanently and totally disabled by a service-connected condition, and survivors of veterans and service members who died. They would be covered on the same terms as the veteran.
Designated family caregivers
The family program also covers people formally designated as a veteran's primary caregiver who have no other health coverage. The bill reaches them as well.
Who is affected by H.R. 4876?
The Department of Veterans Affairs
The requirement would sit in statute rather than in regulation, so the department could no longer narrow or end it by rewriting its own rules.
VA hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies
Facilities would need clinical protocols, pharmacy procedures, and staffing arrangements to furnish everything the provision names, medication included.
VA clinicians
The bill says nothing about whether individual providers could decline to take part, leaving that question to existing law and department policy.
Veterans outside the VA system
Because the bill borrows existing eligibility definitions, a veteran who is neither enrolled in nor otherwise entitled to VA health care falls outside its reach.
Future administrations
Changing the requirement would take an act of Congress rather than a rulemaking.
HR4876 Legislative Journey
House: Committee Action
Mar 18, 2026
Committee Hearings Held
House: Committee Action
Dec 19, 2025
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
House: Committee Action
Aug 5, 2025
Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
About the Sponsor
Julia Brownley
Democrat, California's 26th congressional district · 13 years in Congress
Committees: Veterans' Affairs, Transportation and Infrastructure, Natural Resources
View full profile →
Cosponsors (150)
All 150 cosponsors are Democrats. Cosponsors represent 36 states: Alabama, Arizona, California, and 33 more.
Eleanor Norton
Democrat · DC
Maxine Dexter
Democrat · OR
Gwen Moore
Democrat · WI
Rashida Tlaib
Democrat · MI
Raja Krishnamoorthi
Democrat · IL
Timothy Kennedy
Democrat · NY
Seth Moulton
Democrat · MA
James McGovern
Democrat · MA
Angie Craig
Democrat · MN
Josh Gottheimer
Democrat · NJ
Deborah Ross
Democrat · NC
Summer Lee
Democrat · PA
Cosponsor Coverage Map
Committee Sponsors
Veterans' Affairs Committee
10 of 25 committee members cosponsored
1 Democrats across this committee haven't cosponsored yet. Mobilize their constituents
What laws does H.R. 4876 change?
1 changes
Sections Amended
Section 1703 of this title); and ``(2) an individual eligible for benefits under subsection (a) of section 1781 of this title.''. (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter
inserting after the item relating to section 1720L the following new item: ``1720M
H.R. 4876 Quick Facts
- Committee
- Veterans' Affairs
- Chamber
- House
- Policy
- Armed Forces and National Security
- Introduced
- Aug 5, 2025
Committee Hearings Held
Mar 18, 2026
Official Sources
Official status, full text, actions, and the 149-name cosponsor list for the Reproductive Freedom for Veterans Act.
The chapter of veterans' benefits law the bill amends; the new section 1720M would be added at the end of subchapter II.
The bill borrows this section's definition of a covered veteran — enrolled in VA health care, or entitled to it without enrolling.
The second eligibility group is drawn from subsection (a) of this section, the statute behind the VA's family and survivor health benefit.
Who qualifies for VA health care, the gate a veteran must already be inside for the bill's requirement to reach them.
The program built on section 1781 — spouses, children, survivors, and designated primary caregivers the bill would cover on the same terms as the veteran.
What reproductive health services the VA describes furnishing today, under regulation rather than the statute the bill would write.
The VA pharmacy program that would dispense the medication the bill names alongside procedures and counseling.
H.R. 4876 Common Questions
Does the VA cover abortion care now?
Not as a matter of law. No provision of veterans' benefits law requires it, so whatever the VA offers rests on the department's own regulations, which a later administration can rewrite. H.R. 4876 would move the requirement into the statute.
Who would be covered by H.R. 4876?
Two groups. Veterans enrolled in VA health care, or otherwise entitled to VA hospital care and medical services. And people eligible under the VA's family health benefit — spouses, children, survivors, and designated primary caregivers of certain disabled or deceased veterans.
Would abortion medication be included, or only procedures?
Both. The bill names abortion, related care and services, counseling, and medication in the same sentence, so consultations and prescriptions dispensed through VA pharmacies would fall inside the requirement.
Are there exceptions for rape, incest, or a medical emergency?
The bill lists none. It does not limit the care by circumstance and attaches no conditions to it. The requirement is written as a flat inclusion in the care the VA furnishes to covered individuals.
Would military families and caregivers be covered?
Yes, if they already qualify for the VA's family health benefit. That covers spouses and children of veterans permanently and totally disabled by a service-connected condition, survivors of veterans and service members who died, and designated primary caregivers without other coverage.
Does H.R. 4876 give more veterans VA health care?
No. It borrows eligibility definitions already in law rather than writing new ones. Nobody becomes newly eligible for VA care — the bill changes what the people already in the system can receive there.
How much would H.R. 4876 cost?
The bill carries no appropriation and no dollar figure, and no Congressional Budget Office estimate has been published. Costs would run through the VA's existing medical care accounts rather than a new line item.
When would H.R. 4876 take effect, and can it pass?
The bill sets no effective date and no deadline for the VA to begin. It has 149 cosponsors, all Democrats, in a House Republicans control. The Veterans' Affairs Committee held a hearing in March 2026 and discharged it from the Health Subcommittee, but has not voted on it.
Based on H.R. 4876 bill text
H.R. 4876 Bill Text
“To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide abortion care, counseling, and related services and medication to certain individuals who receive health care furnished by the Secretary, and for other purposes.”
Source: U.S. Government Publishing Office
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