October 26, 2022
Just say NO to military abortion funds.
Feminists for Life of America strongly condemns Department of Defense abortion travel funding.
FFL President Serrin M. Foster reacted strongly to the announcement by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin directing the DOD to establish travel and transportation allowances to ensure service members and their dependents have access to abortions if they live where it is now illegal. “‘Their dependents’ include her unborn child,” she said.
“I thought the military claimed to be supportive of families. Consider that each base has family resources. Now we know that the military has not kept up with living wages as the price of food and fuel skyrockets, resulting in families applying for food stamps. And that must be corrected, but not at the expense of women suffering an abortion.”
Austin goes on to say that because service members are often required to travel for work, “Such moves should not limit their access to reproductive health care.” Foster replied, “Once again, we see that aborting the unborn is being promoted so the the employer is not inconvenienced. Just think of what message they are now sending women: You better not inconvenience us with your children!”
Austin also revealed that “significant numbers” of service members will be forced to travel, to take time off of work, and to pay more out of pocket to receive what he euphemistically refers to as “reproductive care”: “In my judgment, such effects qualify as unusual, extraordinary, hardship, or emergency circumstances for Service members and their dependents and will interfere with our ability to recruit, retain, and maintain the readiness of a highly qualified force.”
“If he is talking about reproducing, abortion has nothing to do with it,” Foster replied. “But let’s ask: Just how many women have been ‘inconveniencing’ the DOD and various branches of the military? This is news. Whose hardship? And how does this work? Does she have to go to her supervisor to say she is pregnant and is seeking to terminate her unborn baby?” Austin is directing the department to display “objectivity and discretion.” Foster replied, “I am suspicious. How private can a personnel record be as a service member moves through the ranks, not to mention if her file is hacked?
“And what about a conscientious objector, a boss who wants nothing to do with scheduling abortions? What rights she or he will have?”
“Who exactly is paying for this time off? Evidently, the plan means we are,” Foster asked and answered. According to an anonymous insider source, military personnel will allow service members and dependents who must travel to access abortions to request travel allowances and an administrative absence from their normal duty stations so they don’t need to take leave, according to a DOD official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter ahead of the policy announcement. “Does this mean we are also expected to pay for the travel of minor daughters?” Foster asked.
Austin also directed the department to develop a program to reimburse applicable fees for DOD health care providers who wish to become licensed in a different state and to develop a program to support DOD health care providers who are subject to “adverse action,” such as penalties or loss of license for performing abortions.
“So now, despite the Hyde Amendment, Austin wants to assist doctors to become abortion practitioners? Congress will need to address this before it is implemented. We urge the DOD to reconsider this coercive anti-woman, anti-child policy before implementation, and instead help personnel support their families during this challenging economic time,” Foster concluded.
