Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–April 27, 2016. Tonight, NARAL Pro-Choice America thanks Democratic members of the House Armed Services Committee who voted for an amendment to the FY17 National Defense Authorization Bill that would have lifted the ban on privately funded abortion services for women in the military. This is the first time the House has voted on this ban since 2006.
Prohibiting women from using their own funds to obtain abortion services at military facilities is not only discriminatory but endangers their health and denies women a constitutionally protected right. Women stationed overseas depend on their base hospitals for medical care, and are often situated in areas where local facilities are inadequate, unsafe, or unavailable. While NARAL supports public funding for abortion care, this amendment does not touch public funding for abortion. It simply allows military women to exercise their constitutional right to choose abortion and use their own money to pay for abortion care at a military facility.
Said Sasha Bruce, NARAL Senior Vice President for Campaigns and Strategies: “These women fight for our freedoms as their job yet our country repays them with limited freedoms in their own health care choices. That’s criminal. What House Democrats did tonight was take the right stand for our military women and we thank them for it.”
To read more about the importance of lifting the ban on privately funded abortion services for women in the military, view NARAL’s fact sheet here.
NARAL thanks the following members for supporting this commonsense amendment:
Adam Smith, Washington, Ranking Member
Loretta Sanchez, California
Bob Brady, Pennsylvania
Susan A. Davis, California
Rick Larsen, Washington
Jim Cooper, Tennessee
Joe Courtney, Connecticut
David Loebsack, Iowa
Niki Tsongas, Massachusetts
John Garamendi, California
Hank Johnson, Georgia
Jackie Speier, California
André Carson, Indiana
Derek Kilmer, Washington
Joaquín Castro, Texas
Tammy Duckworth, Illinois
Scott Peters, California
Marc Veasey, Texas
Tulsi Gabbard, Hawaii
Tim Walz, Minnesota
Beto O’Rourke, Texas
Donald Norcross, New Jersey
Ruben Gallego, Arizona
Mark Takai, Hawaii
Gwen Graham, Florida
Brad Ashford, Nebraska
Seth Moulton, Massachusetts
Pete Aguilar, California
NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates are dedicated to protecting and expanding reproductive freedom forall Americans. NARAL works to guarantee that every woman has the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive choices, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion. In recognition of its work defending our constitutional right to choose, Fortune Magazine described NARAL as “one of the top 10 advocacy groups in America.”
Source: http://www.prochoiceamerica.org
