[NOTE: These related reports include an update on Defense Department efforts to support reproductive rights of pregnant servicemembers, and a background Op-Ed that helped shape the latest pronouncement. The comments from Congress indicate that this issue will continue to be controversial.]
New Pentagon abortion policy draws ire of GOP, praise from Democrats
By Leo Shane III — Oct 21, 2022
Republican lawmakers on Friday [Oct. 21 2022] sharply criticized Defense Department plans to provide leave and cover travel costs for troops seeking abortions, calling it a move driven by politics and not the health care needs of the military.
But Democratic supporters of the new policy said it is needed to ensure that troops stationed in states where the procedure is outlawed still have access to their full range of medical care options.
“Service members and their families should have the right to make their own choices about their lives, health, and future,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I, said in a statement. “And female service members and prospective recruits should feel that military service remains a viable career option, regardless of where they may be assigned.”
RELATED: Military to provide leave, travel expenses for troops seeking abortion
The Pentagon is trying to tie of up all of the lose ends created by the Supreme Court’s Dobbs vs. Jackson decision.
By Meghann Myers
In a memo Thursday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin outlined Pentagon plans to provide non-chargeable leave (which does not count against vacation time) and travel reimbursement for troops who travel across state lines seeking abortion access.
Federal rules prohibit defense officials from paying for abortion procedures, except in cases of rape, incest or threat to a mother’s life.
An estimated 80,000 active-duty female service members are currently stationed in states where abortion has been restricted by state laws.
Austin said the move was necessary in the wake of the Supreme Court decision from June which overturned the Roe v. Wade decision, which had legalized abortion nationwide.
But on Friday, House Armed Services Committee ranking member Mike Rogers, R-Ala., called the announcement “a desperate campaign tactic that undermines the core mission of our military.”
Rogers, who is in line to be chairman of the committee if Republicans win control of the House in the November elections, said he would demand answers on what funds were being used to promote abortion policies within the DoD instead of other military priorities.
“Taxpayer dollars meant for deterring China and other adversaries should not be squandered on campaign politics,” he said in a statement. “DoD must be blocked from wasting any portion of their budget on this horrendous policy.”
Similarly, Senate Armed Services Committee member Rick Scott, R-Fla., accused the White House of “using the military to advance [a] radical pro-abortion agenda.”
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, suggested on social media that Republicans in Congress should “refuse to vote a single additional penny to the Defense Department” until the policy is ended.
The issue is likely to be a key point of friction between the two parties during next year’s defense authorization bill and defense budget debates.
In a statement on Friday, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., praised the Pentagon announcement as a way to “help alleviate the concerns of our servicemembers, giving them greater privacy to make highly personal health decisions and making reproductive services more accessible and affordable.”
He and other Democrats vowed to continue to push for more abortion access for troops where needed.
In his memo, Austin said the leave and travel reimbursement plans would be put in place “as soon as possible.”
Military Times Pentagon Bureau Chief Meghann Myers contributed to this story.
Background: Overturning Roe would be disastrous for the U.S. military
Op-Ed By Allison Gill — May 18, 2022 — Washington Post
Opinion Overturning Roe would be disastrous for the U.S. military
By Allison Gill — May 18, 2022
Allison Gill is a U.S. Navy veteran, author and co-host of the podcasts “The Daily Beans” and “Mueller, She Wrote.”
Overturning Roe v. Wade could have disastrous consequences for the U.S. armed forces, and here’s how I know: When I was 21, I was drugged and raped violently while serving in the military, a crime that resulted in pregnancy.
Had I not had access to abortion, the assault would have ended my career and derailed my life. Should Roe be overturned and access to abortion restricted for female service members across the United States, military readiness would be directly affected.
Women make up 14.4 percent of our active-duty military and about 18 percent of our reserve and National Guard. Rape in the military is prevalent: In 2018, the Defense Department reported that roughly 20,500 service members experienced sexual assault, up from 14,900 two years before.
Many states have trigger laws banning or criminalizing abortion that will go into effect as soon as Roe is overturned — a probable outcome considering the Supreme Court draft opinion that leaked earlier this month.
This will immediately affect active-duty service members, who don’t exactly get to choose what state they serve in, and who don’t have the freedom to travel to other states without a leave “chit” approved up the chain of command — a command that is notoriously bad at dealing with the aftermath of sexual assault. Of the 20,500 service members sexually assaulted in 2018, only one-third reported the assault, and 43 percent of those who did said it was a negative experience.
Military leaders are often averse to having sexual assault associated with their command — not to mention the rapist is often in the chain of command. This leads to situations in which it’s unsafe to report rape. And if there’s no safe space to report rape, there’s certainly no safe space to request leave to travel for abortion care.
Potential workarounds such as mail-order abortion medication would most likely be unfeasible. When I served, mail went through the chain of command, and there were inspections to prevent the receipt of contraband. Although I don’t know whether abortion pills received through the mail today would be confiscated, I do know I never would have ordered them, for fear of being caught and disciplined.
When I tried to report my rapist, I was asked the same questions so many victims have heard before: What were you wearing? Were you flirting? Are you in a fight with your boyfriend? A higher-ranking officer told me I could lose my prestigious nuclear position. He said I’d be dishonorably discharged for filing a false report and court-martialed for adultery because my rapist was married.
“Let’s just chalk this up to what it was,” he said. “Bad judgment on your part.”
I left believing it was my fault — a lie that took over a decade of therapy to undo — and I was terrified to mention it to anyone.
There was no morning-after pill to prevent pregnancy back then. But when I discovered I was pregnant, I was able to access abortion care at a nearby Planned Parenthood, along with a counseling referral. The trauma from the rape almost cost me my life. Access to the care I received afterward saved me.
Now imagine if I hadn’t had that care. Imagine if multitudes of women in the military could not access such care.
In a world without Roe, service members without ready access to abortion care would be trapped. A service member who is raped and becomes pregnant could essentially be forced by the government to carry their pregnancy to term and give birth to their rapist’s baby.
There are concrete steps U.S. officials can take now to help service members who might need to seek abortion care.
First, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin should create policy granting leave for reproductive-health travel, and President Biden should call on the Defense Department to put that policy into practice.
Second, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) should bring the Military Justice Improvement Act (MJIA) — sponsored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and supported by senators including Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) — to a floor vote. The bill proposes taking the decision to prosecute rape and assault out of the chain of command, which would give active-duty service members a safe space to report.
The MJIA has 67 bipartisan sponsors. But it was killed when Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) insisted it be included in the National Defense Authorization Act, where it was gutted. Gillibrand has continued to push for a vote on the full proposal and has been repeatedly blocked.
This lack of protections is unacceptable. Forcing service members with unwanted pregnancies to covertly seek abortion care — or to carry a pregnancy to term — would be inhumane. If the United States values women’s military service, it must find a way to ensure they have a choice.
From a military standpoint, where beholding the disintegrating body of a friend, or someone you are personally responsible for (or even personally ordered to go into a situation where death is certain) is routine, this makes sense.