(The Daily Signal) — The Department of Defense announced Thursday that the Pentagon will pay for service members and their dependents to travel to abort their unborn babies.
A Pentagon memo obtained by The Daily Signal says that it will establish “travel and transportation allowances for Service members and their dependents, as appropriate and consistent with applicable federal law and operational requirements, and as necessary amend any applicable travel regulations, to facilitate official travel to access non covered reproductive health care that is unavailable within the local area of a Service member’s permanent duty station.”
The Pentagon memo, which framed the move as a response to the overturn of Roe v. Wade, also said that it will develop a program to reimburse fees for those Defense Department health care providers who “wish to become licensed in a different state than that in which they are currently licensed” — suggesting that those who want to perform abortions in states other than the one they are currently licensed may do so on the Pentagon’s dime.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered that the actions outlined in his memo be executed “as soon as possible,” noting that all actions must be completed no later than the end of the calendar year.
“Our greatest strength is our people,” he concluded. “There is no higher priority than taking care of our people, and ensuring their health and well-being. The Department of Defense will continue to closely evaluate our policies to ensure that we continue to provide seamless access to reproductive health care as appropriate and consistent with federal law.”
In response to a request for comment from The Daily Signal, Department of Defense spokesman Charlie Dietz confirmed that “if the dependent of a service member lives in a state where abortion access is restricted, the DoD will cover their travel and transportation costs to a location where they can legally receive the care.”
SCOOP: DOD memo that just went out establishes an abortion travel fund for service members "and their dependents" to "access non covered reproductive health care that is unavailable within the local area of a Service member's permanent duty station." pic.twitter.com/nNNy4Vm4XT
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) October 20, 2022
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, slammed the move in a statement to The Daily Signal Thursday, saying, “Instead of focusing on national security, taking care of our troops, and defending our way of life, the Biden administration is hell-bent on using taxpayer resources to help kill unborn children.”
“It’s bad enough that the [Department of Veterans Affairs] was already violating federal law by providing abortions; now we’ve learned the DoD intends on subsidizing service members to travel across state lines to obtain them,” he added. “Congress needs to hold this administration accountable for its brazen, anti-life policies, and we should refuse to vote a single additional penny to the DoD until [President Joe] Biden’s woke brass reverses these policies in full.”
Mary Margaret Olohan
Mary Margaret Olohan is a reporter for The Daily Signal.
