Veterans Group Lobbies Congress for Legal Definition, New Funding and Treatment Programs for Moral Injury
Moral injury gained formal recognition in September 2025. Veterans groups now seek a legal definition and expanded federal research and pilot programs.
Usa TodayTimothy “Tito” Torres, an Army special operations veteran with 11 deployments, is leading efforts to establish a legal definition of moral injury and expand federal treatment programs for veterans. Torres, who retired last year, serves as vice president and chief executive officer of the Moral Compass Federation, a coalition of veteran nonprofit groups.
U.S. Troops from Afghanistan in August 2021. Torres said the withdrawal left him feeling he had abandoned Afghan allies he had promised to protect. “I lost trust in the government and our leaders, both on the military side and the civilian side,” Torres said.
Moral injury received formal recognition as a mental health condition in September 2025 when it was added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Shira Maguen, a clinical psychologist on the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Clinical Team at the San Francisco VA Health Care System, said the inclusion places the condition on the map for providers and patients.
Maguen said moral injury differs from PTSD, with hallmark symptoms of guilt, shame, and inability to self-forgive.
A 2025 survey found that nearly 6 percent of a nationally representative sample of veterans—an estimated 955,000 people—report suffering from moral injury. Torres and Amy Marden, senior adviser for strategy and operations at the Moral Compass Federation, are meeting with members of Congress to create a legal working definition that would help VA doctors diagnose and treat the condition.
The federation is also asking lawmakers to order a government review of existing research funding, establish military and VA pilot programs for multiple treatment approaches, and create moral injury working groups at the Pentagon and VA.
Maguen said VA providers have found intensive one-on-one sessions, including writing letters to those harmed, and group discussions on guilt and spirituality to be effective. Torres said the goal is to ensure troops receive proper policy support before deployment and care after they return. “I will always carry the war with me,” he said.
“Let’s make sure that the people we’re sending [to war]...
