The Defense Department will pick up travel costs for female service members who might be forced to cross state lines for reproductive healthcare needs, the Pentagon announced Thursday.
The Supreme Court’s ruling — which took away constitutional protections for women to seek abortions, no matter the state they reside — created an “hardship” or “emergency” circumstance for many service members, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote in memo released on Thursday.
He ordered the Defense Department to: “Establish travel and transportation allowances for Service members and their dependents, as appropriate and consistent with applicable federal law and operational requirements, and as necessary amend any applicable travel regulations, to facilitate official travel to access noncovered reproductive health care that is unavailable within the local area of a Service member’s permanent duty station.”
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Defense department to pay travel expenses of female service members seeking abortions
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