The Pentagon announced on Thursday that it will assist service members and their dependents with some abortion costs, including travel and transportation, but not for the actual procedure. In a memo, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote that because “significant numbers” of troops and their families would have to travel and take time off for the procedure, “military readiness will be affected as well from the practical efforts of recent changes,” namely the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in June. “Such moves should not limit their access to reproductive health care,” he wrote. “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.” The new measure will help members who may be working in places where abortion is now illegal. Troops’ insurance can’t pay for the cost of the procedure, as current law prohibits military and federal funds from being used to pay for abortions unless the pregnant person’s life is at stake. Members and their families can now request administrative absences and travel allowances instead of losing leave, an anonymous Department official told Politico.
