WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Angus King, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is asking the Department of Defense (DoD) to ensure servicemembers across the country can access necessary reproductive healthcare. In a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, King and his colleagues highlight the wide-ranging implications of the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, and the challenges that restrictive abortion laws pose to servicemember health and finances, military readiness, recruitment, and retention.

“Following the Dobbs decision, the RAND Corporation estimates that 40% of active duty women serving in the continental United States face limited or no access to abortion services where they are stationed,” wrote Senator King. “Women service members, who make up approximately 17% of active duty military, have no say in where they are stationed, even if their duty station is in a state that severely limits or restricts access to abortion or other critical reproductive health services. It is unacceptable that service members or their dependents should face limited or no access to abortion care simply because of where they are stationed as part of their service to the United States.”

“Abortion restrictions and bans only force service members to travel farther to states that have not restricted abortion, further compromising both the financial security of the service members and military readiness,” continued Senator King. “Our service members should not be forced to needlessly risk their personal health and safety for routine health care simply because they pledged to protect and defend our nation.

“Last year, the Department warned that the U.S. military is facing the most significant recruiting challenges in more than 50 years. The recruitment challenges we face align with our inability to retain those already serving in uniform, depriving us of the next generation of uniformed senior leaders and leaving us short of the personnel we need to meet the national security needs of our nation,” Senator King added. “Recruiting and retention will only be made more challenging as states continue to ban or restrict access to abortion services, sending a message that certain service members’ autonomy and ability to get the health care they need does not matter, and putting into place additional barriers and undue burdens for service members and their families.”

The Senators conclude their letter by asking the Secretary of Defense to take restrictive healthcare laws into account when making personnel decisions.

“The Department of Defense should also consider the availability and accessibility of health care, including abortion and reproductive care, when making basing decisions, and swiftly develop a framework for major basing and personnel decisions that accounts for state and local laws restricting access to reproductive health care,” the Senators conclude.

Joining King on the letter are U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Tina Smith (D-MN), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Gary Peters (D-MI), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Tom Carper (D-DE), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Ed Markey (D-MA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Mark Warner (D-VA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM).

Senator King has been a strong supporter of a woman’s right to reproductive healthcare. He opposed the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade calling it “a dangerous, blatantly political ruling that will rob millions of women the fundamental right to make decisions about their own health, safety, and lives.” Prior to the Supreme Court’s ruling, King voted to advance the Women’s Health Protection Act, legislation which would codify the longstanding precedent of Roe v. Wade into federal law and protect the right to these vital healthcare decisions.

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator King has worked to ensure the Armed Forces are able to provide opportunities for young Americans and can meet recruitment goals necessary to protect American interests. He recently asked Department of Defense officials to ensure that common mental health conditions are not preventing young Americans from joining the Armed Forces and has repeatedly pressed top Pentagon nominees about the concerning shift in the U.S. military’s active duty members increasingly coming from the South and West.

The letter can be read here or below.

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Dear Secretary Austin: We write to express our strong support for the personnel policies the Department of Defense issued on February 16, 2023, consistent with your October 20, 2022 directive, to ensure service members and their families can access necessary reproductive health care, including access to abortion and fertility care. Currently, 13 states have a total ban on abortion and other states are moving to severely limit access to abortion services. [1] Given the restricted access to abortion care that service members face following the Supreme Court’s June 2022 ruling in Jackson Women’s Health Organization Dobbs v., we are encouraged by your new travel and transportation, and administrative leave policies in support of reproductive health care, including abortion, and we urge you to consider the availability of such care when considering the unique vulnerabilities service members face in deployments, military recruitment and retention efforts and U.S. military basing decisions. In addition, with a pending federal lawsuit threatening the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, one of two medications most commonly used in medication abortion, it is imperative that the Department of Defense continue to take action to protect the right s of service members and their families to access abortion care.

Following the Dobbs [2] decision, the RAND Corporation estimates that 40% of active duty women serving in the continental United States face limited or no access to abortion services where they are stationed. When service members are assigned to duty stations either domestically or overseas, their placement is determined by the needs of the U.S. military. Women service members, who make up approximately 17% of active duty military [3 ] , have no say in where they are stationed, even if their duty station is in a state that severely limits or restricts access to abortion or other critical reproductive health services. It is unacceptable that service members or their dependents should face limited or no access to abortion care simply because of where they are stationed as part of their service to the United States.

State laws restricting or prohibiting our service members from accessing rep a message that the United States does not trust those who serve in uniform protect our country –– reproductive care send whom we trust to make their own decisions about their health care and families. These laws also jeopardize the health and overall readiness of our military. Prior to the Dobbs decision, most service members sought abortion care through civilian clinics, at their own expense, because abortion care was prohibited under TRICARE and at military treatment facilities except in certain circumstances. In the aftermath of decision, state laws further restricting the right of service members to make their own decisions about their health care will not stop service members from needing or seeking care. Abortion restrictions and bans only force service members to travel farther to states that have not restricted abortion, further compromising both the financial security of the service members and military readiness. Our service members should not be forced to needlessly risk their personal health and safety for routine health care simply because they pledged to protect and defend our nation.

The Dobbs decision also exacerbates our military’s recruitment and retention efforts. Many join the military in pursuit of economic security and a successful career, and with the promise that the Department of Defense will protect their health and well[4] being. However, last year, the Department warned that the U.S. military is facing the most significant recruiting challenges in more than 50 years. The recruitment challenges we face align with our inability to retain those already serving in uniform, depriving us of the next generation of uniformed senior leaders and leaving us short of the personnel we need to meet the national security needs of our nation. Recruiting and retention will only be made more challenging as states continue to ban or restrict access to abortion services, sending a message that certain service members’ autonomy and ability to get the health care they need does not matter, and putting into place additional barriers and undue burdens for service members and their families.

The Department of Defense should also consider the availability and accessibility of health care, including abortion and reproductive care, when making basing decisions, and swiftly develop a framework for major basing and personnel decisions that accounts for state and local laws restricting access to reproductive health care. Just as basing criteria weigh a variety of conditions such as local educational resources and cost of living, so should the Department take into consideration the consequence of locating new installations and missions in states that would adversely impact the reproductive rights of those required to work there. The Department must also consider the numerous barriers that service members still face in accessing abortion care under its new policy, including stigma and discrimination, out of times, and the volatility of abortion access pocket costs, delayed wait from state to state as legislatures move to enact abortion bans.

We are committed to ensuring the full implementation of the Department’s reproductive care policies and will continue to advocate for the freedoms of our service members and their families, and their right to make their own decisions about their health care. We appreciate your continued attention to these matters and thank you for defending the rights of those who serve our nation.