[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 78 (Thursday, June 2, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1021]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                      MARCH FOR MILITARY WOMEN ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. LOUISE McINTOSH SLAUGHTER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 2, 2011

  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of The MARCH for 
Military Women Act (Military Access to Reproductive Care and Health), 
legislation that will help our servicewomen to gain access to 
reproductive health services. As our servicewomen risk their lives 
defending our country, it is deeply unfair that they are denied the 
rights of the Constitution that they defend.
  Currently, the health coverage provided to servicewomen fails to 
cover abortion, even in the case of rape or incest. Moreover, our 
servicewomen cannot pay for abortions with their own money on overseas 
military bases, even when local services are unsafe.
  The epidemic of sexual assault in the military highlights the 
unfairness of these prohibitions. Department of Defense statistics show 
that 3,158 sexual assaults were reported in the military in fiscal year 
2010. While shocking, that statistic only reflects a fraction of the 
sexual assaults, due to under-reporting in the military. Indeed, the 
Defense Task Force on Sexual Assault in the Military Services report 
estimated that as many as 90 percent of sexual assaults go unreported. 
After a woman is assaulted, she should not have to fight to receive 
medical services such as an abortion.
  Access barriers facing rape victims in the military are just one 
example of the indignities suffered by servicewomen who need to 
terminate their pregnancies.
  Currently, servicewomen are not allowed to purchase abortion services 
with their own funds on overseas military bases. They were afforded 
this right until 1988, when the Department of Defense rescinded it. 
Preventing servicewomen from accessing abortions on military bases 
means that they may be forced to rely on unsafe local facilities. 
Failing that, a servicewoman would need to request permission from her 
supervisor to leave her combat mission and return to the United States.
  The current prohibitions in the military are unfair, unjust, and 
potentially dangerous.
  A recent article in Religion Dispatches tells the story of a young 
Marine, who after being raped, attempted to self-abort. Her only tools 
were an herbal abortifacient, a rifle cleaning rod, and a laundry pin. 
Despite dangerous hemorrhaging, she kept working for five weeks until 
she realized that she needed to return to the United States for medical 
treatment.
  Our servicewomen deserve the right to determine their own destiny, 
without risking their health unnecessarily. That is why I have 
introduced legislation that will:
   Lift the statutory ban that denies U.S. servicewomen coverage for 
abortion care in cases of rape or incest;
  Lift the statutory ban that prevents women in the military from using 
private funds to access abortion services at U.S. military facilities.
  Our servicewomen deserve better. I urge you to help servicewomen 
access their constitutionally-protected rights.

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