The House defense bill would undo the Pentagon's abortion travel policy

House lawmakers are trying to undo policies that allow Department of Defense service members to use leave, and travel and transportation allowances to get reproductive care for themselves or their dependents.

With the fallout from the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade still being resolved two years later, House lawmakers added a provision to the 2025 defense appropriations bill that limits leave and reimbursement benefits for federal employees who seek an abortion or similar procedure. On Friday, the $833 billion bill passed on a 217-199 vote.

"Biden's Department of Defense is using taxpayer dollars to fund vacation time, lodging and travel expenses for elective abortions, in direct violation of the longstanding Hyde Amendment in yet another effort to promote abortion," said Rep. Beth Van Duyne. , R-Tx., who spearheaded that amendment to the defense bill.

In 2022, Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a memo allowing three weeks of "administrative leave," which does not charge leave balance, for service members to receive reproductive health care or support a dependent who requires it. The policy came as states began to initiate legislation to restrict abortion after the Supreme Court overturned longstanding constitutional protections in Women's Health Organization Dobbs v. Jackson.

As of April, 41 states have some type of abortion restriction, 14 of which are a total ban, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that advocates for reproductive rights around the world.

The benefit in question only provides reimbursement of travel costs to access reproductive health care services not otherwise covered; does not pay for actual procedures with government funds. The policy also allows time off for appointments that may be related to infertility treatments.

On Thursday, Senate Republicans blocked a sweeping bill that would have made IVF more affordable and accessible to veterans, service members and the feds.

Just this March, the Pentagon released numbers showing how many people in the department used the abortion travel policy since it was implemented in 2022. Between June and December 2023, the policy was used 12 times across all services, costing roughly $45,000.

Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said at the time that the count could include individuals who used the policy more than once.

In addition to bypassing the 2022 memorandum setting out these policies, the amendment makes an attempt to stop any future rules with the same objective.

"The bill furthers the Republican goal of making abortion illegal nationally, making it more difficult for women in our military to obtain reproductive care," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee. "No woman deserves to have her health care and family planning decisions made by politicians, especially those who have put their lives on the line to protect all the rights and freedoms of Americans."

Now that the House has passed its version of the defense bill, it will send it to the Senate for consideration.

Both chambers must reconcile their differences before the spending bill can become law.