GOP Senators Introduce Bill to End Pentagon’s Abortion Policy

The majority of Senate Republicans have backed a bill to end the Defense Department’s new policy of offering travel benefits and paid leave to service members seeking abortions.

This legislation was introduced on March 15th by Senator Joni Ernst (R.Iowa). It (pdf) has been co-sponsored 35 other Republican senators.

“The Pentagon should not be mobilized against the unborn,” Ernst stated this in a March 15th statement. “The Department of Defense exists to defend life, not destroy it.”

Announced in February, the Pentagon’s “Ensuring Access to Reproductive Health Care” Policy allows military personnel to inform their commanders about their status of pregnancy up until 20 weeks. For those who are interested “non-covered reproductive health care services”—a category that includes abortions and in vitro fertilization (IVF)—for themselves or a dependent, the policy allows for up to 21 days of paid administrative leave and, when deemed necessary, travel and transportation allowances.

The policy will take effect on March 18.

“Biden DoD’s policy is not just unlawful, it’s immoral,” Ernst, a former Army National Guard veteran who served as an Army National Guard soldier in Iraq. “Congress has been clear; the Hyde Amendment protects taxpayers from being forced to fund abortions. I will continue to ensure the unborn and your tax dollars are protected.”

Ernst’s bill, if passed, would ban the Department of Defense providing paid leave. “transportation, lodging, meals-in-kind, or any actual or necessary expenses of travel or transportation” For military personnel who are traveling to have abortions.

The bill does not provide for an exception in the case where the mother’s safety is endangered if she has a child to term, or if the pregnancy results from rape.

Roe v. Wade Prompted Policy

Dobbs, v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (June 20,22) was the direct reason for the Defense Department’s policy shift. The court ruled abortion is not a constitutional right. The court’s historic ruling overturned Roe V. Wade’s 1973 precedent, and allowed individual states to decide the legality of abortion.

Lloyd Austin, Defense Secretary of Defense, wrote in an October 2022 memo that the Supreme Court’s decision had not been followed. “impacted access to reproductive health care with readiness, recruiting, and retention implications” for the military, and he directed staff members to create the new policy.

But, Senator Tommy Tuberville (R.Ala.), who co-sponsor Ernst’s bill, stated that this excuse is not valid.

“The department has averaged less than 20 abortions per year for many, many years. Averaged only 20,” He spoke on February’s Senate floor. “So, does this—potentially restricting less than 20 procedures a year—sound like a threat to our military readiness? It does not.”

A January Knights of Columbus/Marist poll found that 60 percent of Americans don’t support taxpayer funding of abortion and that 69 percent favor limiting abortion to the initial trimester of pregnancy.

Tuberville protested the Defense Department’s policies and pledged to suspend all nominees for the department that are brought before the Senate.

“The Secretary of Defense is following through with his radical plan to facilitate thousands of abortions a year with taxpayer dollars,” He made the observation last month. “So, I will follow through with my plan to hold all Department of Defense (DOD) civilian, flag, and general officer nominations that come before the U.S. Senate.”

The Epoch Times contacted the Department of Defense in order to obtain comment.