‘Extremely disturbing and unethical’: new rules allow VA doctors to refuse to treat Democrats, unmarried veterans; The Guardian, June 16, 2025

Aaron Glantz, The Guardian; ‘Extremely disturbing and unethical’: new rules allow VA doctors to refuse to treat Democrats, unmarried veterans

[Kip Currier: As The Guardian article's aptly references, these new V.A. treatment rules are "extremely disturbing and unethical". 

The right to exercise one's religious beliefs is a fundamental constitutional right. However, one has to marvel at the dearth of basic decency of a healthcare provider who refuses to treat someone based on their gender, or whether they're married or an LGBTQ+ person.

Is it too much to expect someone who enters the healthcare professions to be able to commit to helping any veteran who needs care, no matter what that healthcare provider's religious beliefs are or are not?

The answer is and should be an emphatic NO.]

[Excerpt]

"Doctors at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals nationwide could refuse to treat unmarried veterans and Democrats under new hospital guidelines imposed following an executive order by Donald Trump.

The new rules, obtained by the Guardian, also apply to psychologists, dentists and a host of other occupations. They have already gone into effect in at least some VA medical centers.

Medical staff are still required to treat veterans regardless of race, color, religion and sex, and all veterans remain entitled to treatment. But individual workers are now free to decline to care for patients based on personal characteristics not explicitly prohibited by federal law.

Language requiring healthcare professionals to care for veterans regardless of their politics and marital status has been explicitly eliminated...

In interviews, veterans said the impact of the new policy would probably fall hardest on female veterans, LGBTQ+ veterans and those who live in rural areas where there are fewer doctors overall."