The overruling of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court has caused a significant amount of people upset across the nation. But the Pentagon came up with a solution, which it has chosen to help troops by funding their travel out of state to get an abortion.
The goal is to ensure female service members get the support they need from the U.S. Military.
Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, released a memo Thursday presenting new policies that will go into effect by the end of the year. These policies will protect the privacy of all parties involved and guarantee military healthcare providers.
Service members already get leave time for traveling to get an abortion, but under the new policies, service members will also be reimbursed for their time off and travel costs for out-of-state medical services. However, funding doesn’t cover the actual abortion.
“I am committed to the department taking all appropriate action, within its authority and consistent with applicable federal law, as soon as possible to ensure that our service members and their families can access reproductive health care and our health care providers can operate effectively,” stated Austin.
“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 continued.
“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.”
The Hyde Amendment continues to support the U.S. Military. In the cases of rape, incest, or the mother’s life at risk, service members are allowed to have abortions.
Defense officials said that since 2016 nearly 100 abortions were covered under the Hyde amendment for military members.
However, members of the Military who needed an abortion outside the above reasons had to seek out their healthcare providers to perform the procedures, Travel Noire reported.
Service members now have 20 weeks to inform their commanders of their pregnancy. Before the new policies, they had two weeks to inform them.
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