Letter reaffirms key U.S. national security priorities tied to providing access to non-covered reproductive health care for service members in the wake of the Supreme Court reversing Roe v. Wade, including health of the force, military readiness, and recruitment and retention for all U.S. military branches
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), joined Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and 36 Senate colleagues in sending a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, underscoring the serious national security imperatives tied to providing U.S. service members access to protected leave for abortion and reproductive health care services.
The Senators’ letter addresses numerous national security implications in the wake of the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, which, in addition to disenfranchising U.S. service women’s control over their own bodies, risks serious repercussions for the U.S. military, including health of the force, military readiness and recruitment and retention.
In the letter, the Senators reaffirm their support for the Department of Defense’s (DOD) reproductive health care policies.
The letter was also signed by Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Tina Smith (D-MN), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Peter Welch (D-VT), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Gary Peters (D-MI), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Tom Carper (D-DE), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Ed Markey (D-MA), Angus King (I-ME), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Mark Warner (D-VA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Martin Heinrich (D-NM).
The Senators write, in part: “Following the Dobbs decision, the RAND Corporation estimates that 40% of active duty women serving in the continental United States face limited or no access to abortion services where they are stationed. When service members are assigned to duty stations either domestically or overseas, their placement is determined by the needs of the U.S. military. Women service members, who make up approximately 17% of active duty military, have no say in where they are stationed, even if their duty station is in a state that severely limits or restricts access to abortion or other critical reproductive health services. It is unacceptable that service members or their dependents should face limited or no access to abortion care simply because of where they are stationed as part of their service to the United States.”
In their letter, the Senators explain the national security implications for restricting service members’ reproductive freedom and underscore the dangerous message sent to women in uniform – current and future – that they cannot be trusted to make their own decisions about their health and families. The Senators conclude the letter by reaffirming Senate Democrats’ commitment to ensure the full implementation of the Department’s reproductive policies and that efforts will continue in the Senate to fiercely defend service members and their families’ health and freedoms.
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Senator Murray has led the fight in Congress to fight back and protect Americans’ fundamental rights. At a hearing she chaired right in the immediate aftermath of the Dobbs decision, Senator Murray warned of the chaos, confusion, and harm the decision and Republicans’ extreme policies would cause. In the months since, Senator Murray has introduced and fought to pass commonsense legislation to protect the right to contraception, protect every American’s right to travel for abortion care, protect doctors’ right to provide legal abortion care, expand our national family planning program, and protect the right to build a family through assisted reproductive technology. She led her colleagues at the very outset of this Congress to make crystal clear that Senate Democrats are continuing to fight to protect every American’s reproductive rights and will be a firewall against House Republicans’ continued attacks on our rights—and that’s exactly what she’s doing now. Last month, she reintroduced the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) to restore Roe and every woman in America’s right to control her own body.
The Senators’ letter can be read in full HERE.
###
English 
Spanish