Authoritarian System - How VA Doctors Are Now Allowed to Discriminate Against Veterans Based on Political Beliefs

What appears to be a technical adjustment in the administration of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is in truth a political breach of the dam. From now on, medical personnel there may refuse treatment to veterans - provided that their personal characteristics are not explicitly protected by federal law. This makes it legally possible to deny care to veterans who hold democratic views or who are unmarried. A decision that shakes the relationship between the state, medicine, and political neutrality to its very foundations.

While VA employees are still required not to discriminate against anyone based on race, religion, or gender, a presidential decree issued by Donald Trump on January 30, 2025, removed political affiliation and marital status from the list of protected characteristics. The new regulation - created under the title “Executive Order on Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” - now allows for veterans to be excluded from care on the basis of their personal worldview or way of life. A medical service that is ideologically filtered is no longer a public service - it is arbitrariness.

The VA, for decades a central institution for the care of former service members, is thus being swept up in a wave of partisan radicalization. What was previously considered an untouchable consensus - that those who served the country are entitled to protection and care regardless of party, origin, or lifestyle - is becoming a matter of negotiation. Political belief becomes a criterion for medical treatment. The line between state duty and personal attitude is deliberately blurred.

Even more dangerously, this change does not occur through an official law or clearly named regulation, but through internal VA guidelines. There is no classic decree number. This makes the process difficult for the public to grasp - and all the more effective in its impact. At the same time, the VA is undergoing a massive restructuring that adds further strain to the system - according to internal plans, up to 80,000 layoffs are expected, which will likely further exacerbate existing gaps in care. What appears inconspicuous in everyday administration is in fact a systematic dismantling of fundamental state principles - and a quiet attack on the very notion of a free and just healthcare system.