Pentagon Ends Reimbursement for Service Members Seeking Out-of-State Reproductive Health Care

In a recent development, the Defense Department has decided to halt its reimbursement policy for service members who need to travel out of state for reproductive health care, including procedures like abortions and fertility treatments. This change comes after a directive was issued this week, officially nullifying a policy that had been implemented in October 2022 by the Biden administration, aimed at providing support to service members in light of intensified abortion restrictions following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The memo, signed by Jeffrey Register, the Pentagon's human resources chief, notably contains no further instructions and simply presents a visual representation of the cancellation of the previous regulation. Inquiries regarding whether service members will still be permitted to take time off for personal travel costs related to this matter have not yet received a response from the department.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, publicly criticized the policy change, labeling it as "shameful." In her statement, she emphasized that members of the military should be able to access necessary reproductive health services irrespective of where they are stationed and accused the former administration of undermining the welfare of service members, particularly affecting servicewomen.

The policy originally established by then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was designed to ensure that service members located in states with limited access to reproductive health services could still obtain necessary care without added financial burden. However, data from the Defense Department suggested that the reimbursement policy was infrequently utilized, with only 12 instances recorded between June and December 2023, totaling around $40,000 in expenses covering travel, lodging, and meals. Importantly, the policy did not finance the cost of abortions themselves.

Under federal law, military medical facilities are permitted to conduct abortions only in cases where the pregnant individual's life is threatened or in incidents of rape or incest, with such occurrences being exceptionally rare. The Defense Department reported that there were only 91 abortions performed in its facilities from 2016 to 2021, further illustrating the limited scope of reproductive health services available to service members and their families.