[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 75 (Monday, May 24, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1070]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    AN ISSUE OF FUNDAMENTAL FAIRNESS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LORETTA SANCHEZ

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 24, 1999

  Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to report to my colleagues the 
actions of the House Armed Services Committee. I regret the Committee's 
failure to follow the recommendations of the Military Personnel 
Subcommittee to repeal the statutory prohibition on abortions in 
overseas military hospitals and restore the law to what it was for many 
years. If enacted, women stationed overseas would be permitted to use 
their own funds to obtain abortion services. No federal funds would 
have been used and health care professionals who are opposed to 
performing abortions as a matter of conscience or moral principle would 
not be required to do so.
  This is an issue of fundamental fairness. Servicewomen and military 
dependents stationed abroad do not expect special treatment, only the 
right to receive the same legally protected medical services that women 
in the United States receive. We had the opportunity to finally put a 
stop to the misguided law that has endangered our servicewomen's lives 
for far too long. It is unfortunate that the full committee did not 
follow the subcommittee's direction.
  The Department of Defense, the American Public Health Association, 
the American Medical Women's Association, the American College of 
Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Planned Parenthood Federation 
of America have all indicated their support for the subcommittee's 
decision.
  If we are to attract the best and brightest of our nation's young 
people to our Armed Forces we must act to restore this fundamental 
right. We cannot expect to attain our readiness and recruitment goals 
when potential soldiers know they will not have the same right to 
access to health care when they are stationed overseas.
  It is our responsibility to restore the right of freedom of choice to 
women serving overseas in our nation's Armed Forces. Members of the 
military and their families already give up many freedoms and risk 
their lives to defend our country. They should not have to sacrifice 
their privacy, their health or their basic constitutional rights 
because of a policy with no valid military purpose.

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