LAS CRUCES, New Mexico – Reproductive health advocates recently launched a campaign to guide veterans who lost access to abortion services because of policy changes at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
A billboard went up April 16 near the VA medical clinic in Las Cruces, directing veterans and military families to the Brigid Alliance, a national organization that arranges travel, lodging and funding for people who travel for abortion. The Brigid Alliance partnered with Vet Voice Foundation for the multi-state campaign, with billboards posted near VA clinics in Atlanta and Hampton, Virginia.
The Brigid Alliance chose Las Cruces because the VA clinic serves a large regional population, said Serra Sippel, executive director of the Brigid Alliance. The Las Cruces clinic is part of the El Paso VA Health Care Network.
El Paso County is home to more than 6,000 female veterans, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey. Based on intake questions, about 8% of the Brigid Alliance’s clients last year were veterans, service members and their families, Sippel said.
At the end of last year, the Department of Veterans Affairs terminated a Biden-era policy that allowed the VA to provide veterans and eligible dependents abortions in cases of rape, incest and pregnancies that endanger the life or health of the patient. The policy, implemented in September 2022 after the fall of Roe v. Wade, meant VA medical personnel could provide abortion services on federal property, even in states that banned abortion.
But in September 2025, under President Donald Trump’s administration, the VA issued an interim rule to reinstate exclusions on abortion and abortion counseling from the VA medical benefits package – even in cases of rape and incest.
Earlier that year, the Department of Defense also rescinded a President Joe Biden-era policy that reimbursed service members and dependents for travel expenses to access reproductive health care, including fertility treatment and abortion.
“That is not how we should treat people who have sworn to protect and defend this country,” said Janessa Goldbeck, a Marine Corps veteran and CEO of Vet Voice Foundation. “If veterans cannot access medical care, I think it’s a slap in the face of those who have served.”
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The Department of Veterans Affairs finalized its abortion ban in December 2025 after the Department of Justice issued an opinion saying the VA is not legally authorized to provide abortions. The changes to the medical benefits package do not prohibit providing care to pregnant women from receiving treatment for ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages.
The El Paso VA in an email said the VA complied immediately with the justice department’s opinion and described the Biden administration’s policy as “politically motivated.”
The agency did not respond to El Paso Matters’ questions about what type of abortion services and counseling the El Paso VA provided prior to the opinion.
“VA maintains the ability to provide care to pregnant women in life-threatening circumstances,” the email said.
The Brigid Alliance’s billboard in Las Cruces was posted at 1709 N. Solano Drive, less than three miles south of the city’s VA clinic.
Goldbeck said it’s important to inform people there are still resources to help them. While the Brigid Alliance does not fund abortion services, it covers travel expenses and other logistics, such as childcare and food.
“People might not be aware the policy has changed and maybe they’re going to the VA clinic for that type of care,” Goldbeck said. “They may leave feeling distraught and alone. … With the makeup we have in Congress right now, it’s unlikely there will be legislation passed to protect these rights.”
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