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Title: House Democrats introduce legislation to protect military abortions
Originally reported on www.washingtonexaminer.com by Mike Brest
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House Democrats introduce legislation to protect military abortions
More than a dozen House Democrats co-sponsored legislation this week that would codify many of the policy changes the Army and Air Force have made on abortion access in light of the reversal of Roe v. Wade.
Sixteen Democrats are co-sponsoring the Access to Reproductive Care for Servicemembers Act, which they introduced on Tuesday. If passed, it would expand on the Army and Air Force’s policies that mandate commanders approve leave for abortion care and guarantee privacy protections to relevant parties.
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The legislation comes more than three months after roughly 80 Democrats sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas calling on them to remove barriers to taking leave by extending the Army and Air Force policies that had already been implemented. This letter came a week after the draft of Roe’s reversal leaked.
Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), a veteran himself who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, told the Washington Examiner that they pursued legislation on the matter when it “became clear” that the administration’s actions were “not going to be enough.”
The legislation would also require the Department of Defense to pay the expenses for a service member’s travel to obtain an abortion while banning retaliation or adverse action from commanding officers.
“We wanted to make sure that we created a kind of standard across the [Department of Defense], and we asked the administration and the department to do that,” Crow said. “I was worried about the inconsistency and particularly worrying about the inconsistencies when it comes to the personnel, you know, because the branches have leeway and flexibility to pursue their own policies, and I think that’s in large part positive because it allows them to tailor their forces to their unique missions. … When it comes to the treatment of our service members, there should be a standard across the board.”
The Colorado lawmaker also noted that they’re considering attempting to attach the bill to must-pass legislation.
With conservative states implementing abortion restrictions since Roe was overturned, approximately 40% of female U.S. service members no longer have access to or have limited access to abortion where they live or are stationed currently, according to a new paper from Rand released last week.
The Army in April issued a directive that updated its pregnancy and postpartum policies by expanding postpartum operational and training deferments, extending exemptions for physical fitness testing and the Army Body Composition Program, standardizing convalescent leave in cases of pregnancy loss, allowing select professional military education attendance while pregnant, creating stabilization while undergoing fertility treatments, and increasing family care plan flexibility.
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Army officials have maintained the policy since Roe was overturned in June and haven’t made any changes to those rules, according to an Army official familiar with the subject.
“The Army’s latest policy addressing parenthood, pregnancy, and postpartum was published in April 2022 and includes provisions intended to improve quality of life for soldiers and their families,” the official said. “Based upon the policy, if a soldier is in a situation where it’s determined that she needs to terminate a pregnancy, she isn’t required to obtain approval from her unit commander. What’s important is that the soldier informs her commander of any anticipated absences and, once the procedure is done, any physical limitations that impact the performance of her duty.”
The Pentagon provides abortion in the cases of rape, incest, or if the mother’s life is at risk, as does the Department of Veterans Affairs.
‘News of the Day’ content, as reported by public domain newswires.
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