The Pentagon is seen on Oct. 21, 2021. (Robert H. Reid/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — Troops seeking reproductive health care, including abortions, not covered by the Defense Department will no longer receive travel stipends to do so after the Pentagon revoked its travel policy Thursday.
Announcement of the policy being revoked was published by the Defense Travel Management Office and went into effect immediately. Canceling the policy is in line with an executive order signed last week by President Donald Trump that bars the use of federal taxpayer dollars for abortion services.
The policy allowed service members to take up to three weeks of leave and receive a travel stipend to cross state lines to seek abortion services, as well as other reproductive health services, such as in vitro fertilization, ovarian stimulations and egg retrieval. The policy was meant to enable troops assigned to states with strict reproductive health care laws to travel to states with less restrictive laws.
The policy was put in place in March 2023 by then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed a constitutional right to access abortion services. Following the ruling, states were able to establish their own abortion laws.
A dozen states have an outright abortion ban. Some of the most restrictive states, including Texas and Louisiana, are home to major military installations, which caused concern over how the new laws would affect troops.
Women make up 17% of the armed forces. The Pentagon said, from June 2023 to December 2023, the policy was used 12 times to cover leave and travel for reproductive services at a cost of $40,791.20. For the privacy of the individuals, the Pentagon did not provide a breakdown of the care each person received, but noted the policy could have been used to travel for abortion services, in vitro fertilization, ovarian stimulations or egg retrieval.
The department on Friday was unable to provide an updated count and cost on policy use.
A defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the change will appear in the Feb. 1 version of the Joint Travel Regulations, which implements policy to establish travel and transportation allowances for service members and Defense Department workers.
The policy change elicited reactions from lawmakers on Friday.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., praised the decision, calling the previous policy “illegal and immoral.”
“President Trump and [Defense] Secretary [Pete] Hegseth affirmed today what I’ve been fighting for since I got to Washington: zero taxpayer dollars should go towards abortions. Under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth’s leadership, the Pentagon will once again be focused on lethality, not pushing a political agenda. Thank God common sense has been restored to our military under President Trump’s leadership,” Tuberville said.
For 11 months in 2023, Tuberville imposed a blanket hold on senior military promotions over the Pentagon’s travel policy. Tuberville narrowed the holds to four-star generals in December 2023, releasing the other nominees for promotion, but he vowed to continue fighting against the policy.
A joint statement was issued Thursday by 18 Democratic senators and one independent who are members of Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee’s subpanel on defense condemned the Pentagon’s decision to end the policy.
“This decision strips away service members’ ability to access the reproductive care they need, which is nothing short of abhorrent. It runs contrary to a core goal of the Department of Defense – to ensure the health and wellbeing of all our service members so that our force remains ready at all times to protect Americans and keep this nation safe,” the senator wrote.
The senators indicated revoking the policy could have a negative impact on recruiting efforts, stating it sends the message that women “are not as valuable as their male counterparts.”
“We will do everything in our power to mitigate the impact that this extreme decision will have on members of our military and ensure their health and safety comes first,” the senators wrote.
