Pentagon Reverses Biden-Era Policy on Abortion Travel Coverage

According to a memo, the Pentagon has adopted a policy under which it will cover travel expenses for service members who need to cross state borders to get abortions or other reproductive health care.

A memo published by the Defense Travel Management Office Wednesday announced that the change took effect on Tuesday.

This is the latest move by the Trump administration to eliminate the social policies of the Biden era that, according to critics, distract the military’s mission of defending our nation.

Former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, under former President Biden in early 2023, set up policies to provide paid leaves and reimburse troops who have to travel out of the state they are stationed in to receive an abortion or to get other reproductive care.

This access was provided to ensure that troops receiving health care could do so safely, even if based in states with abortion restrictions following the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision.

The Biden administration cited a legal memo from the Defense Department drafted in October of 2022 that found the law did not “prohibit the use funds to pay for expenses such as per diems or travel expenses which are incidental to abortion”.

Republican opponents attacked the policy, however, as a way to circumvent federal laws that prohibited taxpayer funds from being used for abortions.

Tommy Tuberville, a Republican Senator from Alabama, protested the policy by delaying nonpolitical promotions in the military for almost a year. He claimed it violated the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding for abortions. The amendment allows funding for cases of rape or incest, as well as to save the life of a patient.

Last week, President Trump issued an executive directive titled Enforcing Hyde Amendment to close such loopholes.

Senators, such as Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire (D), condemned the Pentagon’s move. She was joined by 18 other senators from both parties.

Shaheen writes, “This decision is abhorrent because it strips service members of their right to receive reproductive care. It runs counter to the core goal of the Department of Defense – to ensure that all of our service members are healthy and ready to protect Americans at any time and to keep our nation safe.”

The lawmakers point out that U.S. military personnel have no control over where they are based “and which state laws may apply to their bodies”, and that removing the travel policy does “nothing to advance military preparedness.”

The letter states that the policy is a sign to women who are 17 percent of the U.S. Military, that they “are not as valuable as male counterparts.”