An annual membership survey from the organization Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) showed that less than half of surveyed members support a more gender-neutral version of the Department of Veterans Affairs' iconic motto: "To care for him care who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan."

The survey of about 4,600 IAVA members showed that 46 percent either "strongly" or "somewhat" supported changing the motto taken from Abraham Lincoln's majestic Second Inaugural Address.

About 30 percent "strongly" or "somewhat" opposed changing the motto, while 24 percent were neutral on the issue. In October 2018, the Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law School, backed by IAVA, the Service Women's Action Network, and the NYC Veterans Alliance, petitioned the VA to change the motto. "The current VA motto is gendered and exclusionary, relegating women veterans to the fringes of veteran communities," the petition stated.