Veterans groups and Yale students are asking the VA to change its motto which is currently a quote from Abraham Lincoln

The words of Abraham Lincoln are usually revered, but not so for some when it comes to the motto for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Veterans groups and Yale Law School students are asking the VA to change its creed, saying it excludes women and ignores their contributions to the military.

'To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan,' the quote reads.

The VA's mission is to fulfill a promise of America's 16th president - with his words service as the VA's motto for the past 59 years.

Yale students and three advocacy groups - Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, NYC Veterans Alliance and Service Women's Action Network - petitioned the VA Friday to change the motto.

A VA spokesman says Lincoln's words are a tribute to all veterans and the agency is now reviewing the petition.



This comes amid mounting pressure to change the motto after female veterans asked for the change earlier this year and at the end of 2017.

'To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan,' Lincoln said in his second inaugural address

Previoulsy in November, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America asked Virginia Secretary David Shulkin if he could change the motto.

They claimed that Lincoln's quote was exclusionary to women service members and represented complications they faced in the VA's health system, according to Stars and Stripes.

'They're missing the point that women don't feel comfortable at the VA,' said IAVA Executive Director Allison Jaslow, a former U.S. Army captain who served in Iraq.

'We want to be respected and appreciated as much as male veterans are, and the motto is symbolic of overall challenges.'

An altered version of the quote has been introduced, gradually, according to Kayla Williams the director of the VA Center for Women Veterans earlier this year.

It reads: 'To care for those who shall have borne the battle and their families and survivors.'

This would not be the first agency to change their motto to be more inclusive.

In 2004, the Air Force Academy replaced its 'Bring Me Men' sign at its entrance with 'Integrity First. Service Before Self. Excellence in All We Do.'

That same year the U.S. Naval Academy changed its school song to include gender-specific lyrics. West Point followed suit in 2008.