Military abortion procedures covered by TRICARE appear on track to hit their lowest level in five years, according to Defense Health Agency records.
The Defense Health Agency disclosed aggregate figures in a November 20 response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed in August by The Dallas Express. The agency stated that the records reflect pregnancy terminations “performed or funded consistent with Title 10, United States Code, Section 1093,” which limits federally funded abortions to cases involving rape, incest, or circumstances in which “the life of the mother would be endangered” if the pregnancy continued.
The records indicate that both procedural and medical terminations dropped sharply across the military health system between 2021 and the first half of 2025.
The Defense Health Agency reported that the TRICARE system recorded 35 such terminations in private-sector care in 2021, compared with just 2 through June 11 of 2025 (the latest available records at the time of the request). Direct-care cases declined from 14 in 2021 to 3 recorded through the same 2025 cutoff.
The decline follows a period in which President Donald Trump signed executive orders canceling several abortion-related policies implemented during the previous administration. A January 2025 White House fact sheet stated that the orders sought to “end the use of Federal taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortion” and rescind directives that the prior administration had used as part of a “whole-of-government effort to promote and fund abortion.”
National Right to Life, which responded to questions from The Dallas Express via email, said several factors likely contributed to the downward trend.
The organization said it viewed the numbers through the lens of longstanding federal restrictions, congressional oversight, and what it described as a shift away from policies implemented during the Biden administration.
“The data doesn’t show what reasons women may have had for getting an abortion, but they are likely similar to those of the general public,” the organization stated to DX. “We know that the Biden administration used every lever at its disposal to push unlimited abortion and this included policy changes in the military. Under the Trump administration, policies pushing abortion have been nullified or reversed.”
At the policy level, the organization said, “The law is very clear: taxpayer dollars and military facilities cannot be used for elective abortions. When that standard is followed and enforced, it naturally limits the number of abortions performed.”
The group also pointed to family-support structures within the armed forces as a cultural factor that may influence decisions.
“We know the military community has a strong culture of service, mutual responsibility, and support for families,” the organization said, adding that additional support programs, enhanced reporting requirements, and expanded conscience protections for military medical personnel remain priorities.
Some advocates cautioned that reduced procedural numbers may not reflect the full landscape.
Rich DeOtte, founder of Life Education and Action, said the broader U.S. trend toward abortion medications complicates interpretation. “It’s difficult to know how to characterize the decline in physical abortions in the military,” he said. “In general, pharmaceutical abortions have increased substantially since the Texas Heartbeat Act and Dobbs. Physical abortions in states like Texas have declined and pharmaceutical abortions have increased.”
Medication-induced abortions have skyrocketed in recent years. In some cases, these drugs can be obtained through the mail. As of 2024, medication abortion constituted 63% of all abortions, up from 53% in 2020, according to research from the .
The ACLU has criticized the current administration’s rollback of certain federal abortion-related guidance. The organization objected to the rescission of federal advice to hospitals about their obligations with regards to abortion under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, claiming the move “will sow confusion for providers and endanger the lives and health of pregnant people,” according to a June 2025 group press release.
The Biden-era guidance informed hospitals that “EMTALA [preempted] state abortion bans and restrictions if abortion care… [was a] necessary stabilizing medical treatment,” according to the National Federation for Abortion.
The Defense Health Agency cautioned in its release of the records that its figures may be subject to future updates because of “subsequent medical record reviews, and/or updated coding and claims.”
Neither Planned Parenthood nor Reproductive Freedom for All responded to additional requests for comment. The Defense Health Agency did not provide a comment beyond the initial release of the records.