Protecting the Women Who Protect Our Freedoms: Reproductive Rights in the Military
When a friend of mine got married a few years ago, we joked that she and her new husband should take every opportunity available to consummate their new marriage. Our goal? For her not to have to be deployed to Iraq. As a member of the armed forces, we knew that if she got pregnant, she wouldn’t have to go and wouldn’t be placed in harm’s way. What we didn’t consider was what getting pregnant would have cost her in advancing her military career.
Getting pregnant in the military is a difficult situation for our servicewomen for a multitude of reasons. First, her pregnancy could get her court-marshaled and possibly discharged, depending on her commander’s policy, as evidenced by Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo’s policy in northern Iraq. At the very least, she risks her ability to move up the ranks in a military system that is already difficult for women to ascend. One of the options not currently available to a servicewoman is the ability to safely terminate her pregnancy while she is on a military base, either within the US borders, where abortions are legal, or in other countries, where access to abortion may be restricted by that country’s laws. Because of restrictions in U.S. law, servicewomen are unable to go to military hospitals and have an abortion performed safely, even if it’s with their own money. Until recently, these women even had difficulty with getting consistent access to emergency contraception, which had not been previously considered a medication important enough to be carried at all military facilities. In essence, the very citizens protecting our freedoms against those who oppose the freedoms enjoyed by Americans, are unable to exercise a right they risk their lives to protect.
While there is currently new legislation being proposed that would allow for privately-funded abortions at military facilities, this situation is a reminder that access to abortion is only part of a larger framework of reproductive justice.
This particular issue is not only about a servicewoman’s right to exercise an option made legal after Roe v. Wade, but also about recognizing the larger inequities that face women in the workplace, particularly in the military. The reality is that for a female soldier to get pregnant, the decision to terminate is not simply a matter of whether or not she wants to have a child, but could mean the difference between getting promoted to higher ranks or being publicly reprimanded by her commanding officer. In many situations, she may not have even been in control of the circumstances producing her pregnancy. With reports of sexual abuse and incidents of rape within the military on the rise, there’s also the possibility that the pregnancy was the result of rape. While women who are raped are able to receive an abortion at military facilities, they must name their accuser to do so, an action that has consequences of its own.
My friends and I now have a better understanding of what getting pregnant in the military could mean for a woman in the service. Maybe others should extend the same courtesy.
Jeryl Hayes