[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 151 (Tuesday, September 20, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H8003-H8008]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1600
                    ABORTION ACCESS IN THE MILITARY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 2021, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Speier) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.


                             General Leave

  Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include any extraneous material during this Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I rise this afternoon to hold this Special 
Order on a very important issue. It is an issue about abortion access 
in the military. I thank my colleagues for joining me and elevating 
their voices on the experience of our troops who are terrified that 
they will be stationed in a State where they cannot control their 
bodies.
  The Supreme Court decision in Dobbs overturned 50 years of precedent 
recognizing the constitutional right to abortion. The Court stated that 
their opinion merely returned the issue of abortion rights to the 
States, and that women can vote for whom they wish to represent their 
values.
  But servicemembers don't have that right. They don't get to choose 
where they live. This leaves 230,000 servicewomen who could be ordered 
to a State that forces them to stay pregnant, even under circumstances 
where they have been raped, because that is what some of the States in 
this grand Union have decided is the law of the land in their State.
  Let me tell you that this is going to have profound impacts on the 
issues that really are of great concern to us who oversee the military 
right now. Recruitment is down. Retention is a problem, and readiness 
is a problem. That is only going to be exacerbated by having a 
situation where these servicewomen who become pregnant are going to 
have to travel long distances to get an abortion.
  Access to abortion has long been a struggle for women in the 
military, especially those overseas and our junior

[[Page H8004]]

enlisted with lower incomes. The Dobbs decision has just made matters 
worse.
  This map right here shows all the States in red that have basically 
prohibited abortions, for all intents and purposes.
  Now, one in four women will have an abortion some time during their 
reproductive years. We now look at the fact that women in the military 
have a 22 percent higher incidence of unintended pregnancies than women 
who are in the civilian world.
  So now let's look at this. There are actually 128 military 
installations in these red States. Of those 128 installations that will 
prohibit abortion, 80,000 servicewomen are on bases in those States. 
The vast majority of those women are of childbearing age.
  Now, the Rand study that was recently commissioned estimated that 
there are 4,000 servicewomen every year that are getting abortions. 
Now, of those 4,000 women who will get abortions, 40 percent of them 
are in States that have severely restricted or no access to abortion.
  Now, look at this. You have a situation, where you are in Louisiana 
or Mississippi, look how far you are going to have to travel, how many 
States you are going to have to travel through to get to a blue State 
where you could access an abortion.
  Privates in the military make about $2,000 a month. Most of the 
abortions will happen to young servicemembers. A typical cost, not 
including travel, to get the medication abortion is $568. To have a 
first-trimester, procedural abortion it is $625. And a second-trimester 
abortion is $775.
  For a servicemember who must travel for an abortion, for example, 
from the State of Texas to Kansas, let's say, with a two-night stay in 
a hotel, the expected cost is $1,100 or more. That is almost half of 
the monthly salary for a typical junior enlisted servicemember.
  In July, we had the very first hearing ever in the House Armed 
Services Committee on abortion access. Two courageous Active-Duty women 
who have served in the military, each for over 20 years. So, they have 
excelled, they are officers in the military, or noncommissioned 
officers in the military, and they have been so good that they have 
been retained in the military and promoted.
  Let me tell you their stories. Theresa spoke of how her abortion as a 
junior enlisted servicemember enabled her 20-year career in the Air 
Force. She used her entire paycheck to cover the cost of the abortion, 
and her next paycheck to reimburse her friend for the gas money for 
driving her to the facility.
  Another servicemember, whose name is Sharon, spoke of getting an 
abortion because she wasn't ready to have another child.
  Let's remember that 59 percent of the women who get abortions in this 
country are already mothers. I was one of them.
  She and her partner were going to drive to Georgia, but then they 
learned it had a mandatory waiting-period law. So then they ended up 
traveling all the way to New York City; and she credits that abortion 
for her 24 years of Active Duty in the military.
  Now, I have more to say, but I am going to yield now to the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Lois Frankel), my great colleague, who is 
one of the co-chairs of the Democratic Women's Caucus.
  Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida. Madam Speaker, I thank Congresswoman 
Speier for yielding, and for her great leadership on this issue and so 
many that affect our women in the military.
  I also want to start with a shout out to Congressman Takano and 
Congresswoman Brownley for their work on getting veterans the 
healthcare they need.
  Madam Speaker, I join Congresswoman Speier and millions of Americans 
who believe that a woman should be able to make her own decision about 
her reproductive care, her life, and her future. And here is the 
thing: Abortion is healthcare, and the decision to seek an abortion is 
deeply personal. It is a decision that should be made by a woman with 
her doctor, or with people she trusts, not by politicians, not by the 
Governors, not by a State legislature, people who have no insight into 
her circumstance.

  Today, we are taking the opportunity to focus on the importance of 
reproductive freedom for members of our military.
  I believe, as the gentlewoman pointed out, there are over 200,000 
Active-Duty women servicemembers that serve our Nation, 80,000 residing 
in the over 100 military bases in this country; bases dominated by men. 
Most of these women are young; they are fresh out of high school or 
college; they have never been away from home, and they have hopes and 
dreams, and they are filled with pride and excitement. Sadly, they are 
entering an environment where sexual assault is rampant.
  Just ask Sarah, who was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. This was just 
a few years ago. She was raped at a party attended by military 
personnel. At that point, in those days, she was able to opt for an 
abortion, and she was able to drive. She had been at Fort Hood, Texas, 
and she was able to drive to a Planned Parenthood nearby.
  But now that the Republican-controlled Supreme Court has made a 
dastardly--that is sort of a polite way to express it--dastardly 
decision to restrict access to abortion, what would be the option for 
Sarah, or any of the women stationed on American bases where the States 
have either banned or restricted abortion?
  I have a similar map to the one Representative Speier showed. So the 
dark color--where there are dark colors on the State, I will call it 
red. I am going to call it ``magna'' red, the ``magna'' red States. And 
those are States that either have banned, or are restricting, or 
severely restricting, or in the process of restricting access to 
abortion. There are about 27 of those in this country.
  Take a look. Those little dots, black dots, they represent the 
military bases in this country. Just take a look.
  I am going to have to, Madam Speaker, move to my map. What if you are 
in a base--if you were based deep in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, even 
in Florida, where do you go? Where do you go? The map tells the story.
  So we know that Sarah would have had to drive 9 hours, 9 hours from 
Fort Hood, just to get to New Mexico.
  Make no mistake, Madam Speaker. Make no mistake, that the Republican-
appointed Supreme Court, the ``magna'' Republican State legislatures, 
have declared a war on women.
  So here we are today saying this: Our patriotic women, they leave 
their homes, their family, and their friends, to serve our country. 
They signed up to be pilots and engineers and medics, not to have a 
forced pregnancy forced by ``magna'' Republicans.
  We trust them with Black Hawks, with firearms, logistics. We must 
trust them to make their own medical decisions about their lives and 
give them access to the healthcare they deserve.
  They are standing up for our freedom, and we must stand up for 
theirs.
  Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her powerful 
comments.
  On top of everything else, we passed one law which was the Hyde 
amendment, that said you can't use Federal funds for medical abortions, 
so Medicaid was not made available for that purpose. But many States 
have decided to cover it anyway.
  But that wasn't enough for the Congresses some years ago. They 
decided that we would ban any abortion at a military treatment facility 
except for rape, incest, and the life of the mother.
  So that means a servicemember can't go to the military treatment 
facility on their base, get the abortion, and pay for it themselves. We 
make them jump through hoop after hoop after hoop. And then, we ask 
ourselves, why do we have a recruitment problem? I think it is pretty 
obvious.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. 
Houlahan), my colleague on the House Armed Services Committee, and on 
the Military Personnel Subcommittee, and a former servicemember, to 
comment on this issue as well.
  Ms. HOULAHAN. Madam Speaker, as a former servicewoman and a veteran 
myself, I rise today in support of our current and future servicewomen 
and their fundamental freedoms.
  The Dobbs decision has already had a devastating effect on women 
across this country. According to a recent Rand study, 37 percent of 
servicewomen who were pregnant within a year of the study had an 
unintended pregnancy.
  Now, nearly half of all Active-Duty servicewomen live in States that 
have

[[Page H8005]]

severely curtailed abortion access, and this is devastating, of course.

                              {time}  1615

  Access to abortion care is essential to a woman's health, and it is 
central to her economic and social well-being. Servicewomen who live in 
States that have banned or restricted abortion now must incur the 
expenses that are necessary to travel to receive medical care, and they 
must now go to their commands to ask for permission to travel.
  Their military personnel records are automatically updated in a 
system showing that they are pregnant. Pregnant servicewomen are 
afforded no medical privacy, and they face the knowledge that their 
colleagues and their commanders will know if they have to travel to 
seek an abortion.
  With this vital healthcare out of reach for some and far too 
difficult to access for others, the consequences are widespread and 
tangible, not just to women's lives, but to this Nation.
  Our military readiness, our retention, and our recruitment are all in 
jeopardy. Our servicemembers put their lives on the line every day 
defending our freedoms, and now we must clearly defend theirs.
  For many, military service is not only a call to serve a purpose 
greater than themselves, but it is also, frankly, a path to economic 
stability and to educational opportunities.
  To those who say that this is a theoretical argument, let me tell you 
the story of a fellow airwoman. Air Force Major Theresa Mozzillo, from 
our Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, just reached the milestone of 20 
years of military service. Her promotion to Lieutenant Colonel is in 
just a couple of months, and I want to extend my gratitude and 
congratulations on her reaching this tremendous milestone.
  As a result of the Dobbs decision, she bravely came forward and 
shared this with us. When she was a junior enlisted servicemember, 
making only $550 every 2 weeks and living in the dorms, she had an 
abortion. She was 21 years old and joined the Air Force for the 
economic and educational opportunities it provided, like many people 
do.
  Safe and legal access to abortion allowed her to continue her 
military service and training commitments without disruption. This 
decision to utilize vital reproductive healthcare helped her to 
establish a dedicated career in our military and to serve this great 
Nation. A decision that today might no longer be hers to make. A 
decision that will no longer be available to the 84,000 servicewomen 
and thousands of spouses and military family members who live in States 
where safe access to abortion is now illegal or severely restricted.
  Today, over 42 percent of the military is comprised of our most 
junior servicemembers. Today, most junior enlisted servicemembers make 
a little over $2,000 a month. Can you imagine being forced to become a 
parent when you only make a little over $2,000 a month, live in a 
dormitory, with no economic support, no established housing, and likely 
no family nearby and looming military obligations as well?
  As I mentioned, I am a very proud Air Force veteran, in fact, a 
third-generation member of the military. My military service was 
pivotal to my own personal and professional growth, and I rely on 
lessons I learned in Active-Duty service and as a child of an Active-
Duty member every single day of my life.
  We must ensure that women continue to have opportunities to serve in 
our military without losing control of their own bodies. We must ensure 
that every servicewoman is afforded the same privacy and bodily 
autonomy as her peers are. We must ensure that every servicewoman and 
military family member has safe and legal access to abortion care, 
regardless of where they are stationed.
  The economic consequences of being forced to become a parent are, for 
many, insurmountable. Regardless of a woman's reason to end a 
pregnancy, we cannot simply abide by an environment where a 
servicewoman is given less bodily autonomy than her male counterparts 
are.
  Women are a vital part of our military. In our renewed strategic 
environment, and with ongoing recruitment and retention challenges 
across the military, we simply cannot afford to discourage women from 
entering military service in service of this Nation.
  We must remember that no one has the right to interfere with a 
person's ability to make decisions about their own health and their own 
well-being.
  I ask my colleagues to stand with me and with many of us here on the 
dais today on behalf of our Nation's servicewomen.
  Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her service 
then and for her service now. Her comments about young servicewomen 
just out of high school or college, who find themselves pregnant and 
seek an abortion, reminds me of a story that I heard at a base here in 
the United States of a young, single mother, servicewoman, who was 
struggling to take care of her young daughter in part because the 
childcare--she was lucky enough to have childcare at that particular 
base. Many of our bases are impacted with long waiting lists. But she 
actually had a slot. But the childcare center didn't open until 6 
o'clock, and she had to be at physical training and exercises at 5:30, 
so she was always juggling that situation.
  Imagine if you are not even prepared to have a child and you are 
forced to give birth to that child and have to cope with all of those 
additional issues as well.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. 
Jacobs), another colleague on the Subcommittee on Military Personnel, a 
fellow Californian, and a great member of our freshman class.
  Ms. JACOBS of California. Madam Speaker, I thank Chairwoman Speier 
for her leadership today and her leadership on this issue. It has been 
truly incredible to learn and serve under her.
  I am so proud to represent San Diego's vibrant and diverse military 
community in Congress and on the House Committee on Armed Services.
  When I go home and talk to my constituents, they ask me what I am 
doing to make sure their loved ones are taken care of, that they are 
going to be safe, not just when they are deployed abroad but when they 
are here at home.

  I have to look these families in the eye and tell them that right 
now, their loved ones who do so much to serve and sacrifice for our 
country will not necessarily have safe housing, affordable childcare, 
and quality healthcare, including reproductive healthcare.
  We owe our servicemembers so much more, because even though they 
volunteered to serve in our armed services, they didn't volunteer to 
give up their reproductive rights. Decisions about if, when, and how to 
have a family belong to our servicemembers, not the Supreme Court or 
elected officials. Taking away these fundamental rights doesn't just 
hurt these individuals. It hurts our military readiness, recruitment, 
retention, and morale, putting our national security in jeopardy.
  With 40 percent of Active-Duty servicewomen having very limited or 
zero access to abortion services where they are stationed, our 
military's ability to adapt to evolving conflicts and challenges is 
severely compromised.
  I am proud to be from California where abortion is currently safe and 
legal. But not everyone is lucky enough to be stationed in California. 
As of July, about 84,000 servicewomen were stationed at a base located 
in a State with a trigger law, and with new abortion bans going into 
effect, that number will only grow.
  No matter where you live or are stationed, no matter how much money 
you make, you should have access to abortion.
  The truth is, that none of us can take our existing State laws for 
granted, because a Republican majority in Congress or a Republican 
President will push for a national abortion ban. This isn't even a 
secret. They have literally already introduced it.
  We also need to remember that even before the Supreme Court took away 
our constitutional right to abortion, servicemembers faced huge 
barriers to accessing necessary reproductive healthcare. The DOD 
already cannot provide or pay for abortions in most circumstances, and 
servicemembers looking for care off base were limited by restrictions 
on travel. After Dobbs, abortion access is even harder for 
servicemembers. They can't freely take off days from work, and many 
cannot afford to travel the thousands of miles

[[Page H8006]]

and pay out of pocket to receive the care they need and deserve.
  This is unacceptable. We have a responsibility to ensure our 
servicemembers have access to the care they need. That is why I joined 
my friend, Congresswoman Speier, to introduce the MARCH for 
Servicemembers Act, which would allow military medical treatment 
facilities to provide abortion services and permit the military to 
cover the associated costs.
  It is why I am proud to be an original cosponsor of the Access to 
Reproductive Care for Servicemembers Act, introduced this week by 
Congressman Crow and Congresswoman Speier. This crucial legislation 
would ensure leave requests to seek an abortion are confidential and 
approved without delay and push to have DOD provide travel 
reimbursement for those seeking abortion care.
  None of these solutions are radical. They are not extreme. All they 
do is empower and support our servicemembers to make their own 
healthcare decisions. When we have already asked our servicemembers to 
put their lives on the line for our freedom, we cannot and should not 
take away theirs.
  Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her 
outstanding comments and for her great leadership that she has already 
demonstrated.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Moulton), a great American leader who has served his country a number 
of ways, in a number of situations, certainly in the military and now 
as a Member of Congress.
  Mr. MOULTON. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from California for 
her incredible leadership on this and so many other issues on the House 
Committee on Armed Services. She has truly built a legacy which will be 
hard to repeat.
  Signing up for the military is a sacrifice. In return, our 
servicemembers should never have to worry about their own healthcare 
being criminalized by the very country they have volunteered to defend.
  But for an estimated 5,000 to 7,400 Active-Duty servicemembers and 
DOD civilians who find themselves in need of an abortion each year, 
this is exactly what could happen.
  Thousands serve in States they did not choose. Many of these places 
now deem abortion a criminal act.
  So what happens next?
  Many of my colleagues would just simply suggest: Take leave and 
travel to a State that provides abortions.
  Are we going to force servicemembers to disclose a sexual assault to 
justify leave? What about those who aren't authorized to travel due to 
training status? What about women with complications who need emergency 
services?
  Forty percent of Active-Duty servicewomen in the U.S. could now be 
faced with significant challenges accessing critical healthcare in the 
wake of the Dobbs decision--40 percent.
  Let me be clear, there will be an operational impact on military 
recruitment and retention.
  The Department of Defense must defend all of its servicemembers. We 
entrust these brave young Americans with the toughest life-and-death 
decisions. We ought to trust them to make their own healthcare 
decisions, too. This is not only a human right, but it is a matter of 
national security.
  Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for those 
outstanding comments. He is another Member who has shown incredible 
leadership on the House Committee on Armed Services.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Crow), my 
good friend and colleague on the House Committee on Armed Services, who 
again has shown leadership in the military and service in Congress as 
well, and the author of the recently minted bill to provide greater 
protections for servicewomen.
  Mr. CROW. Madam Speaker, I rise in absolute fury today over what is 
going on to American women and this horrific decision by the Supreme 
Court to take away a fundamental right--for the first time in our 
Nation's history, to take away a fundamental right for millions of 
American women.
  Egregious enough in its own right that this has happened, we compound 
it with the fact that tens of thousands of women who have stood up to 
answer our Nation's call, to raise their right hand, to take the oath, 
to give their life for this country, to defend our freedoms, now don't 
have the same freedoms themselves.
  What is going on in this country?
  I served this country as an Army Ranger, three combat tours in Iraq 
and Afghanistan. I served with my fellow men and women. I now sit in 
this body. I sit on the Committee on Armed Services with my good 
friend, Jackie Speier, where we now make policy that impacts the very 
servicemembers like I used to be.
  I remember what it was like being Private Crow, sitting in those 
boots, having to live with the consequences of the decisions made under 
this dome. I think about that now. I think about all the young women 
who want to serve. Maybe they want to follow in the footsteps of their 
mother or their grandmother. Maybe they are deeply patriotic people, 
and they want to give back to their country. Maybe they are trying to 
pursue better opportunities and get some money for college.

                              {time}  1630

  Whatever the motivation, they stand up and take the same oath that I 
took and the same oath that millions of others have taken over our 
Nation's history. It is an oath that says you are willing to give your 
life and put it all on the line for your fellow countrymen and -women. 
Now, we are asking those women to not just be willing to give their 
lives in defense of our Nation but to do so in a way that sets aside 
their own fundamental rights and their own freedoms and gives them 
second-class citizenship in the process of doing it.
  What is going on in this country and in this Capitol? We know that 
abortion care is a time-sensitive and necessary procedure, and we know 
that if servicemembers can't access this necessary healthcare, their 
very own health is in jeopardy.
  Let's just take a minute. Let's just set aside the moral arguments. 
Let's just park those for a minute and just talk about military 
readiness. Let's talk about the defense of this Nation that people love 
to talk about here in this Capitol: support the troops, tie a yellow 
ribbon around the tree. All right, how about we actually do right by 
the people who are willing to make those sacrifices?
  Servicemembers don't have a choice of where they go to serve. That is 
part of the deal. You raise your right hand, go to boot camp, get 
trained on your job, and go where the Nation needs you. Are we really 
going to send thousands of women to places where they don't have rights 
and can't access healthcare? How is that in the interests of our force? 
How does that create a healthy, productive, vibrant military? How is 
that good for recruiting? Well, it is not, obviously.
  It is not often where we have an issue that is just so egregiously 
abusive to people who are trying to do the right thing. It is not often 
where we are literally in a position of dissuading young men and women 
from serving this Nation and making it harder for them to do it and 
making it harder for our military to recruit them.
  That is why I have been proud to work with Jackie Speier. We started 
this effort by co-leading together the MARCH for Servicemembers Act, 
and then we talked to folks. We held roundtables. We held discussions. 
We knew that just wasn't going to do it, that that wasn't enough. We 
had to do more.
  That is why we drafted and are pursuing this legislation, the Access 
to Reproductive Care for Servicemembers Act, which will require 
commanders to approve leave for abortion care automatically. It will 
make DOD reimburse servicemembers for the cost of travel to receive 
care, and it guarantees privacy protections for servicemembers against 
retaliation from commanding officers and peers.
  Imagine that, being retaliated against by your commanding officer. 
Well, it should be illegal, and we are going to try to make it illegal.
  Folks, until we can pass a national law protecting abortion care and 
abortion rights for women, which we are going to try to do--and we are 
going to have to get rid of the filibuster to do it in the Senate--
until we do that, we are going to do everything possible to protect 
everybody we can.

[[Page H8007]]

  Now, today, it is going to continue with us protecting our 
servicewomen. They are willing to give everything for us. The least we 
can do is have their backs.
  We must pass this bill. I implore my fellow Members to walk the talk. 
Don't just talk about supporting our servicemembers. Do it. This is the 
way to do it. We can and must do this. We must have their back. Let's 
get this done.
  Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for really powerful 
remarks. This issue doesn't have to be that hard, but because of 
legislation that has been passed previously, it has made it incredibly 
difficult.
  I am going to share with you now the stories of healthcare 
professionals who have provided care to these military servicewomen. 
You have heard from my colleagues about some of the servicemembers' 
stories. I am now going to tell you about two abortion providers, one 
who is Active Duty and the other one who is a civilian provider but who 
spends the majority of her career close to military installations and 
provides services to our servicewomen.
  The Active-Duty provider, Dr. Lamme, had to tell a young woman that 
her child would not live more than a few minutes following birth due to 
fetal abnormalities, yet there was nothing she could do but hope that 
the young woman could afford the care she wanted and deserved off base. 
She could not even provide her abortion counseling. She had to kind of 
hint about it.
  This particular patient had to hold a fundraiser. Now, think about 
this. This is a servicewoman who has sworn to put her life on the line 
for her country. She is in a foreign destination, and she is holding a 
fundraiser to raise the funds to fly back to the United States to get 
her abortion.
  Just imagine having to ask your friends and family for that money 
because the military you have dedicated your life to has failed you. 
She should have been able to get that abortion at a military treatment 
facility. Until we can lift the Hyde amendment--yes, make her pay for 
it, but don't make her have to develop a GoFundMe page to get the 
resources to fly to a destination that actually covers abortions.
  Another provider, the civilian provider, Dr. Moayedi, shared her 
experience of literally watching her patient count quarters--quarters--
to pay for her abortion. Her patient opted to go without sedation to 
terminate a pregnancy because she couldn't afford any more out-of-
pocket costs.
  There is nothing humane, nothing respectful, about treating 
servicewomen like this.
  If it is the intention of the military to force women out of the 
military, to create an all-male force, then maybe this is the way to 
go. Maybe this is what they had in mind.
  But, we do know that we need women in the force. We know that there 
is a small percentage of men and women who are eligible to serve in the 
military because of their abilities or lack thereof. It is a small 
percentage to begin with, and a smaller percentage yet who choose to 
serve.

  Twenty percent of the military now is made up of female 
servicemembers. We only see that number growing in order to have a 
ready service to be able to go to war when necessary. But now we are 
doing things that are discouraging women to even contemplate becoming a 
member of the service.
  Under current law, the DOD is prohibited from providing or paying for 
abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or a threat to the mother's 
life. These exceptions are so very narrow and interpreted so narrowly 
that the DOD has confirmed to me that the number of abortions that have 
been done at military treatment facilities in a year is between 11 and 
21.
  Now, the RAND study purports that there are probably 4,000 women in 
service in this country in the various services that get an abortion 
every year. Only 11 to 21 of them are done at military treatment 
facilities. That means 3,980 women in the service have to pay for and 
also go elsewhere to seek that service. They have to pay out of pocket 
not only for the care they need but also for other expenses, including 
lodging, gas, airfare, and childcare.
  The Dobbs decision will no doubt exacerbate these challenges, forcing 
servicemembers to travel greater distances and shoulder greater 
financial burdens--that is, if they are granted leave in the first 
place.
  Imagine you are assaulted. You want to go get an abortion. You are in 
the State of Texas, and you have to go to your commander and seek 
leave. By the way, if you seek leave and you were raped and have, I 
guess, a police report, they might let you have that leave without 
having you being docked for it.
  But if you are not one of those women who has been raped or the 
victim of incest, but did, in fact, get pregnant and want to terminate, 
you have to go to your commander in Texas. Right now, you have to 
divulge the service you are asking for, and you are going to get docked 
in leave, as well.
  It is inhumane to force women to remain pregnant against their will. 
It is just fundamental to freedom to be able to have control over your 
own body. It is arrogant to think that we know better than a woman and 
her doctor about what is best for her body. It is wrong to create 
government-mandated pregnancies, and it is wrong for the military to 
require its servicewomen to jump through so many hoops and spend so 
much money out of pocket because we have some antiquated law on the 
books that says you can't get an abortion at an MTF, a military 
treatment facility.
  Access to abortion care is essential to women's health and central to 
their economic and social well-being. The ability to access abortion 
should not depend on how much money you have, where you live, or where 
you are stationed.
  That is why I, along with my colleagues, have introduced the MARCH 
for Servicemembers Act, to enable DOD to provide abortion care once and 
for all.
  At the very least, servicewomen should be able to access abortion 
care within MTFs and pay out of pocket just like they can for other 
procedures. The military does not cover IVF, but they will perform IVF 
at a military facility, and you will just pay for the residual cost.
  I am proud to co-lead the Access to Reproductive Care for 
Servicemembers Act that the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Crow), my good 
friend, just referenced. It would require DOD to pay any travel 
expenses associated with an abortion and ensure servicemembers are able 
to take leave for their care.
  There is a part of me that says we have 128 bases and installations 
in these red States, in these States that ban abortion. Maybe we should 
just move these bases. Now, that is highly unlikely because we have 
invested so much, but it just begs the question about what we are 
really all about if we are going to treat these servicewomen so poorly.
  My office has been inundated with outreach from former and current 
servicemembers who are anxious and despondent about being stationed in 
what they are referring to as ``forced pregnancy States.''
  One Army psychiatrist said to me, ``Even I and some of my female 
physician peers in the military, with the relative privilege of being 
officers and physicians, fear someday receiving orders to a State which 
has banned abortion. Because of the increased maternal mortality in 
areas without safe and legal abortion, I would not feel safe attempting 
to become pregnant in such a State.''
  Let me repeat that. This is a medical professional in the military 
who says: ``I would not feel safe attempting to become pregnant in such 
a State.''

                              {time}  1645

  Again, at a time when the military is struggling with recruitment and 
retention, these bans make things worse.
  We must act now to provide the right resources at the right time and 
the right place so that servicemembers and their families who have no 
choice about where they live continue to have access to the full 
reproductive care they need, want, and deserve.
  These men and women who serve are our greatest patriots. Are we 
really going to treat them as second-class citizens? These members of 
the military defend our freedoms, and we are going to defend them.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. ESHOO. Madam Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Speier for organizing 
this Special Order Hour to highlight how state abortion restrictions 
impact

[[Page H8008]]

our nation's brave servicemembers and their families.
  The military is a male-dominated institution where women make up only 
20 percent of active-duty forces, and significantly less at senior 
leadership levels. As a result, women's healthcare needs are cast 
aside. TRICARE doesn't cover abortion services, except in cases of 
rape, incest, or to save the mother's life, forcing servicemembers to 
leave the military base to seek reproductive care.
  With the upending of Roe, servicemembers in states that restrict 
abortion must travel even further on their own dime to seek basic 
reproductive healthcare, risking their career and standing in the 
ranks. This is outrageous and wholly unacceptable. It sacrifices the 
readiness of our troops and perpetuates a discriminatory environment 
for women in the military.
  I am proud to be an original cosponsor of Congresswoman Speier's 
legislation, the MARCH for Servicemembers Act, to remove the statutory 
ban on military treatment facilities providing abortion services and 
Department of Defense funds being used to perform abortions.
  I believe it is our collective responsibility to ensure that every 
American who wears a uniform to defend our country has the health 
services, opportunities, and care they need and deserve. This is a 
promise we must keep, and I certainly will.
  Ms. GARCIA of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise today to condemn the 
disturbing Dobbs decision handed down by the Supreme Court recently.
  With the Dobbs decision, the Supreme Court overturned two historic 
rulings--Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern 
Pennsylvania v. Casey.
  These two decisions established a constitutional right to obtain the 
medical procedure known as an abortion.
  With the Dobbs decision, for the first time in nearly 50 years, 
Republicans have succeeded in making sure America's daughters have less 
freedom than their mothers.
  Republicans did this by taking away a woman's right to have an 
abortion.
  It's simple. This decision was made for one reason and one reason 
only: to control women and female service members, and their 
reproductive health care.
  All women, and especially those who have put their life in harm's way 
to serve their country, should have the right to choose their own 
reproductive health care.
  Sadly, nearly 80,000 female service members--40 percent of them on 
active duty--will have no access or very limited access to abortion 
services in the U.S.
  On top of that, women serving in the military experience unintended 
pregnancy rates 22 percent greater than civilians.
  According to a study in 2020, between 2,500 through 4,100 active-duty 
servicewomen have an abortion annually.
  Now, because of the right-wing Supreme Court, servicemembers 
stationed in states that ban abortion now may need to travel long 
distances to obtain an abortion.
  In my home state of Texas, there are 15 military bases.
  Female servicemembers stationed at these bases would virtually need 
to travel out of state in all cases to get an abortion. As Texas has 
banned abortions in all cases--even rape or incest.
  Shockingly, they need to use their own personal leave to travel out 
of state. This is absolutely crazy.
  You see, only a very small amount of these abortions are done at 
military facilities as current laws prohibit military health insurance 
from covering abortions.
  The only exceptions are unless the pregnancy is a result of rape or 
incest, or the mother is at risk of death.
  Seriously, everyone, put yourselves in the shoes of a young E-1 in 
the military. An E-1 is the beginning rank for a military career--their 
pay is roughly $22,000 a year.
  That is about $1,833 a month. Trust me, it's not easy to travel out 
of a large state like Texas on that type of salary.
  Many of these servicemembers don't even have cars as they are just 
beginning their military life and move to different bases constantly.
  These are dedicated and strong women who have fundamental rights and 
should be able to decide for themselves.
  They do not need Republican lawmakers telling them what is best for 
their health.
  This is cruel. It's not right. And it must stop.
  This is not how servicemembers should be treated. We should be 
honoring them and their service, but Republicans are only seeking to 
control them and their bodies.
  Even worse, the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Dobbs has served 
as a catalyst for a wave of anti-women efforts led by Republicans 
across our country.
  Some Republicans even want to ban contraception now. It's ridiculous.
  But House Democrats, Rep. Speier, we won't let them.
  We promise to always stand by women and fight for their rights. 
That's why House Democrats passed bills like the:
  Right to Contraception Act;
  Women's Health Protection Act; and
  Ensuring Women's Right to Reproductive Freedom Act.
  We passed these bills because House Democrats trust women and 
servicemembers.
  We always have and we always will.

                          ____________________