The American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) announced it has filed a charge against the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for discriminating against a doctor who declined to prescribe abortion-inducing drugs due to religious objections.

Key Takeaways:

• The ACLJ has filed a discrimination charge after a doctor was discriminated against for seeking a religious exemption from providing abortions.

• The doctor felt he was forced to resign from his position as Chief of Medicine at a VA Hospital. Two years later, he was offered a job at the same hospital, but that offer was rescinded weeks before he was slated to start, without any explanation.

• The VA began committing abortions under the Biden administration. That order was rescinded by the Trump administration.

The Details:

The ACLJ announced last week it had filed a formal discrimination charge against the VA for violating the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

The ACLJ's client, identified as Dr. Mohr, worked as a Chief of Medicine at a VA Hospital when, in 2022, the Biden administration announced that VA hospitals would begin offering abortions. As the ACLJ reported in May:

Under the Biden Administration, a highly qualified, board-certified internal medicine physician with years of exemplary service at a Veterans Affairs medical center faced an impossible choice: violate his deeply held Christian beliefs by prescribing abortion-inducing drugs or lose his ability to serve veterans. When he and his entire emergency department invoked federal conscience protections, leadership responded with threats and coercion.

The Medical Director at the hospital where Dr. Mohr worked told him he could “either get on board or find another job.” In June 2023, Dr. Mohr resigned to avoid compromising his religious beliefs.

According to the ACLJ, in December 2025 a position opened up at the same VA hospital where Dr. Mohr had previously worked; he applied and was accepted. However, in March 2026, the same administration that had previously threatened him rescinded his employment offer just weeks before his start date, without any reason or explanation.

Zoom In:

In its formal complaint, the ACLJ contended that Dr. Mohr was wrongfully discriminated against for his religious beliefs. In a press release, the group said:

Federal law could not be clearer. Title VII protects employees from employer discrimination on the basis of religion, and the Coats-Snowe Amendment provides additional protections for health care professionals who decline to participate in, refer for, or facilitate abortions. These statutes exist for precisely this situation.

The group further stated:

Through the EEOC process, we seek a full investigation, a finding that the facility violated federal anti-discrimination and conscience statutes, meaningful corrective action, and assurances against future retaliation.

Learn More:

In 2022, Stephanie Carter, a nurse practitioner at the Olin E. Teague Veterans’ Center in Temple, Texas filed a lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs over the abortion mandate, arguing that it violated her beliefs.

Carter's attorneys at First Liberty Institute announced in July 2023 that as a result of that lawsuit, the VA issued a nationwide religious accommodation process for employees who had religious objections to participating in abortions. This accommodation process seemingly came too late for Dr. Mohr.

After taking office in 2025, President Trump ended the Biden-era policy of mandating abortions at VA hospitals.