Pentagon grants military service members 3 weeks vacation for abortion-related travel

Beginning March 18, the Pentagon is offering service workers three weeks of administrative leave for abortion-related travel — either to seek abortion themselves or to accompany a partner or dependent family member. “The efforts being made by the department will not only ensure that military members and their families are given the time and flexibility to make decisions about private health care, but also ensure that military members have access to uninsured reproductive health care regardless of where they are.” stationed,” said the Ministry of Defense in a press release Thursday.

As the Department of Defense notes, states that have the most restricted abortion are after theRoe v. calf happened to contain some of the nation’s largest military installations. These states include Texas and Oklahoma, where abortion is almost completely banned. The department notes that military personnel “do not control where they are stationed and, due to the nature of military service, must travel or relocate frequently to meet operational needs.”

“Uninsured Reproductive Health Care” includes abortion services for pregnancies that are not caused by rape or incest and do not threaten the life of the pregnant person. Per the Hyde Amendmenta budget tab from 1976, federal funding is prohibited from paying for the cost of an abortion unless it is sought under these circumstances. Nonetheless, the Department of Defense announcement indicated that service members who are forced to travel abroad for uncovered abortion services may continue to receive travel and transportation grants.

The updated policy notably includes leave for IVF and other fertility treatments – a particularly important step as IVF is becoming increasingly controversial Post Office-Roe. NNumerous states have already imposed abortion bans that include the language “Life begins at conception” as well as protecting embryos – some IVF providers, experts and patients fear the language could jeopardize fertility treatment, which involves the routine disposal of embryos. In June, the Wall Street Journal reported that some patients undergoing IVF in states where abortion would soon be banned had asked their providers to take their embryos to states where abortion is protected. All of this could lead to more overseas travel for IVF, which will inevitably impact service members.

Regardless of whether an individual is seeking an abortion or a less politicized mode of care, commanders were instructed to “show objectivity, compassion and discretion when addressing all health care issues, including reproductive health issues.”

It is heartening to see that military personnel’s reproductive rights are vitally protected — even if, ideally, no one would have to leave their state for reproductive care. In contrast, some states are taking steps to crack down on abortion-related travel: Earlier this month Idaho introduced a bill that would ban minors from traveling abroad to have an abortion without parental consent. Last summer, Senate Republican clogged a bill to protect the right to travel abroad for abortion services and effectively advocates forcing people to live under their state’s abortion ban.

In December, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced the Reproductive Health Travel Act to create a $350 million fund to cover travel-related abortion costs for people in affected states. But the bill continues to be blocked by Republican senators, and in the absence of such legislation, too many Americans are left behind.