Pentagon briefing for senators on abortion policy changes no minds
Mike Brest
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The Department of Defense briefed the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday about its much talked about abortion policy.
The department, following the reversal of Roe v. Wade, updated its policies, including one that would allow service members or their dependents to get reimbursed for travel expenses if they’re forced to travel out-of-state for specific reproductive healthcare, such as abortions, due to local laws.
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This policy has gained renewed significance this month because Congress is debating the National Defense Authorization Act, and the House’s version of the bill, which passed with near-unanimous opposition from Democrats, included a provision that would end this policy.
Following Wednesday’s briefing, Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI) and Roger Wicker (R-MS), the chairman and ranking member of the committee, released statements reinforcing their previous stances of support and opposition to the policy, respectively.
“The Defense Department laid out clear, plain facts to the committee. The Department of Justice has examined the Pentagon’s policy and found it to be entirely legal, consistent with 40 years of precedent through both Republican and Democratic administrations,” Reed said in a statement. “Every institution in this country that is responsible for overseeing the Pentagon has reviewed this policy, upheld its legality, and disproven arguments to contrary. Presented with these facts, only willful ignorance or stubborn hubris could lead one to continue to claim that this policy is illegal.”
Wicker, however, in his reaction, didn’t mention the legality of the policy but focused on the fact that service members or dependents could use this provision to receive reimbursements for travel expenses in the final stages of a pregnancy.
“There’s no question what I just heard. I heard officials of the Biden administration say that under this policy, taxpayer money will be used to facilitate abortions in the eighth or ninth month of pregnancy. Under the policy that was just explained by the department officials, taxpayer money will be used to pay for travel to facilitate abortions that late in pregnancy,” the top Republican explained.
Only six states have no restrictions on when an abortion can be performed: Alaska, Colorado, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Vermont. The District of Columbia also doesn’t have any restrictions.
“I asked for data about how this affected readiness and how it affected objections to enlistments, and officials from the Department of Defense could not supply that information,” Wicker added. “It clearly indicates what this policy was entered into for political reasons and was not based on the facts or data.”
While the Republican majority in the House passed the provision to overturn the policy, the Democratic majority in the Senate will all but certainly not do the same, setting up a significant showdown when both chambers have to merge their bills into one.
Approximately 40% of female U.S. service members do not have or have limited access to abortion services where they live or are stationed currently following the Supreme Court’s ruling, a RAND study published in September 2022 found. Women make up about one-fifth of the military.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), a member of the committee, has used this DOD policy to hold up approximately 260 military promotions and nominations dating back to February. He and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke last week and again on Tuesday regarding his hold, though neither side has capitulated yet.
The position leading the Marine Corps, known as the commandant, is currently being occupied by Gen. Eric Smith, who is filling it in an acting capacity because the Senate hasn’t confirmed his nomination. He still serves as the No. 2, which was his previous role, while serving as the acting commandant. A number of other Joint Chiefs of Staff departures are set to take place in the next three months, raising the importance of working through Tuberville’s hold.
DOD officials, Austin included, have said that Tuberville’s hold is a threat to national security, and Wicker acknowledged hearing the same thing earlier this week.
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“I have been told by senior military officers, the top military officers, that it does constitute a real problem in getting the job done,” Wicker told the Washington Examiner. “Marine generals with four stars on their shoulders that told me straightforward … that it is [a] problem they’re having to get around. It’s something I hope we can resolve.”
The policy also would cover the travel expenses of people who need to travel to obtain non-covered fertility treatments like in vitro fertilization.