The Defense Department has no plans to stop covering travel costs for female troops seeking abortions across state lines, despite protests from a Republican senator who blocked hundreds of military promotions over the issue, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said Thursday.
«I see this, and I think (the secretary of defense) does, too, taking care of our soldiers, and it’s the right thing to do, and I don’t think we’re going to change it,» Wormuth told NBC News’ Courtney Kube at an event at the Aspen Security Forum.
Since the Supreme Court Dobbs vs. Jackson decision eliminated the constitutional right to abortion last year, more than 40% of military women stationed in the United States have no access, or access is severely restricted, to abortion services, according to the Rand Corporation think tank.
Wormuth said the policy was also important to ensure the Army can retain female troops who might leave the Army if they can’t access abortion services. “I see this as a retention issue,” Wormuth said.
The policy also ensures that women in the military have access to IVF, since it’s not necessarily available in areas where troops are based, Wormuth said.
Wormuth said he had not seen data on how many female troops had crossed state lines for abortion services or the amount of Defense Department funding spent so far.
Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama has delayed the promotions of more than 250 military officers for months to force an end to the policy.
Tuberville says he wants a vote on a bill introduced by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, DN.H., that would codify the Pentagon’s abortion policy into law, ending its blockade if it passes. In return, Tuberville says he wants the Defense Department to agree to cancel the policy if the measure fails.
Defense Department officials held a closed-door briefing Wednesday with senators from the Armed Services Committee, including Tuberville, regarding the department’s abortion travel policy, NBC News previously reported.
The issue has complicated the normally bipartisan politics surrounding the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual defense policy bill. House Republicans have inserted an amendment into their version of the bill that would force the Pentagon to end the policy.
Wormuth, echoing comments from other Pentagon and senior officers, said the lockdown is having a ripple effect on troops and families that could jeopardize readiness and prompt some service members to resign.
«Basically what’s happening is our whole system is getting constipated,» Wormuth said.
About a dozen three- and four-star generals have had to postpone their retirement for two or three months, and the officers selected to replace them are not in their new posts, he said.
The biggest concern, he said, is that junior officers may come to the conclusion that it is not worth staying in the military given the uncertainty and delays affecting their families.
“I am really concerned that we are going to have a brain and talent drain as a result of this truly unprecedented step that Senator Tuberville has chosen,” he said.
The promotion blockade is just the latest example of the military being drawn into polarizing Washington politics and turned into “political football,” Wormuth said.
“I think our military is being pulled into the political space in very unproductive ways,” he said. «But I want to make it clear that I don’t see our officers becoming politicized, that’s the last thing most officers I’ve worked with want to see happen.»
She said younger officers might think twice about seeking high-ranking posts after seeing the polarizing atmosphere at congressional hearings where generals face partisan challenges.
“I think they look at our general officers who testify at hearings and they see the kind of interactions our general officers have each and every week and they ask themselves, ‘Do I want to be on the receiving end of that kind of interaction?’”