Topline
Members of the U.S. military who travel out of state to obtain an abortion will now have their travel fees covered by the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced in a memo Thursday, after abortion rights advocates raised concerns about the impact statewide bans could have on service members.
Sailors from the USS Constitution at the Office of Veterans Services, Women Veterans Roundtable on … [+]
Key Facts
The Pentagon will establish travel and transportation allowances for service members and their dependents to get an abortion out of state if the procedure is banned where they’re stationed, Austin said in a memo Thursday.
The defense agency will also establish a policy for administrative absences to obtain reproductive care like abortions.
It will also strengthen privacy protections around abortion, including directing Department of Defense healthcare providers not to disclose reproductive healthcare information to commanders unless it would interfere with an employee’s work, and extending the time for service members to report their pregnancy to their commanders to 20 weeks.
The agency’s guidance applies only to travel and transportation to obtain abortion care and not the abortion procedure itself, as under the federal Hyde Amendment, taxpayer funds cannot be used to fund abortions except in cases of rape, incest and medical emergencies.
The Pentagon had previously released guidance after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June saying its healthcare facilities would still perform abortions in cases of rape, incest and medical emergencies, but employees who get abortions outside of those circumstances would have to travel out of state using their own personal funds—which a RAND Corporation analysis found would cost $1,100 on average.
Crucial Quote
“The practical effects of recent changes are that significant numbers of Service members and their families may be forced to travel greater distances, take more time off from work, and pay more out of pocket expenses to receive reproductive health care,” Austin wrote in his memo. “In my judgment, such effects qualify as unusual, extraordinary, hardship, or emergency circumstances for Service members and their dependents and will interfere with our ability to recruit, retain, and maintain the readiness of a highly qualified force.”
Big Number
40%. That’s the approximate percentage of active-duty female service members who live in states that ban or heavily restrict abortion—or 18% of all the active-duty service members in the U.S.—according to RAND’s analysis, which was released in September. Approximately 450,000 active-duty service members live in states with abortion bans, RAND calculated, 80,000 of whom are women.
Tangent
For Americans who have already left the military, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced in September its facilities will provide abortions in cases of rape, incest and medical emergencies regardless of any state-level restrictions on the procedure.
Key Background
The Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade and the state bans on abortion that have ensued have sparked fears for their potential effect on the military. Members of Congress and other abortion rights advocates have raised concerns abortion bans could curtail access for service members, and Pentagon officials testified to Congress the bans could impact recruitment, as women may be deterred from joining or staying in the military knowing it could impact their reproductive rights. Democrats in Congress have introduced legislation that would make it less burdensome for pregnant service members to obtain abortion care, and some branches of the military had already imposed their own policies, with the Air Force and Army enacting measures that allow service members to take leave for abortion care without getting it preapproved. In addition to the new barriers to abortion access—and the complications of serving in the military if forced to carry a pregnancy to term—military abortion rights advocates have also suggested service members may be subject to harassment or negative performance reviews from their superiors if they ask to take leave for the procedure, without more supportive policies in place.
Further Reading
Abortion ruling will worsen military personnel crisis, Pentagon says (Washington Post)
Roe’s overturning won’t affect abortion access for service members, Pentagon says (ABC News)
U.S. Military Risks a Decline in Female Troops Under Roe Rollback (Bloomberg)
How the Dobbs Decision Could Affect U.S. National Security (RAND Corporation)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2022/10/20/pentagon-will-pay-for-miltary-members-to-get-abortions-out-of-state/