Washington — According to a new memo, the Defense Department will no longer compensate military members who go out of state to receive reproductive health care, such as abortions and fertility treatments.
The memo signed this week repeals a rarely utilized Biden administration policy enacted in October 2022, after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and many states began to enforce stricter abortion laws.
The memo, signed on Wednesday by Jeffrey Register, director of the Pentagon’s human resources department, depicts red lines that cross out the old guideline and provide no other instruction.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a Senate Armed Services Committee member, described the policy shift as “shameful.”
“Our service members go wherever they need to bravely serve our country — and because President Trump’s extremist Supreme Court overturned Roe, where they and their families are stationed quite literally dictates their access to critical reproductive care,” Warren tweeted. “Now, Trump is abandoning our servicemembers, particularly our servicewomen, to earn political points. It’s awful, and it will only make our troops and our country less safe.”
In October 2022, then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin implemented the policy to ensure that troops posted to states where abortions or other sorts of health care, such as IVF treatment, were no longer available may continue to get those treatments.
On Friday, the Defense Department could not tell how many times the reimbursement program was invoked or how much it cost. However, officials reported in March that it had only been used by service members or their dependents 12 times between June and December 2023. The whole expense for transportation, housing, and food was approximately $40,000.
The coverage did not cover abortion costs, and it is unclear how many of the 12 visits were for abortions or other forms of reproductive health care, such as IVF therapy. That particular medical information is protected by health privacy laws.
In his memo at the time, Austin stated that service men and their families were concerned that they would not have equal access to health care, including abortion. He also mentioned that service members who frequently have to relocate for various missions or training would have to travel further, spend more time off work, and pay more to receive reproductive health care.
According to Austin, the situation would cause significant difficulty and “interfere with our ability to recruit, retain, and maintain the readiness of a highly qualified force.”
He directed the Pentagon to let troops and dependents, by federal law, to take time off and use official travel to seek reproductive care in places when it is unavailable locally. That care includes in vitro fertilization and other pregnancy aids, which may not be available nearby.
Under federal law, Defense Department medical institutions can conduct abortions only when the pregnant woman’s life is in danger, or in cases of rape or incest, which have been exceptionally rare. The agency reports that 91 abortions were performed in military medical institutions between 2016 and 2021.
When asked if military personnel would still be given time off to travel at their own expense, the department had no immediate response.
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