DeLauro, McCollum Statement on Restrictions to Servicemembers and Their Families’ Reproductive Freedom

WASHINGTON — House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) and Defense Subcommittee Ranking Member Betty McCollum (MN-04) released the following statement on the Trump Administration’s restrictions on servicemembers and their families’ freedom to take leave and travel for health care:

“In response to the Supreme Court’s devastating decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022, the Department of Defense revised their joint travel regulations to provide servicewomen and military families with access to administrative absence and travel allowances to receive basic reproductive health care services. Today, we learned that the Trump administration has rescinded the Department’s policy. With this shameful decision, they have turned their back on our servicemembers and their families. 

“Nearly 20 percent of our servicemembers are women. Just like men, women serving in the military do not get to choose where they are stationed. Approximately 80,000 female servicemembers live in a state that has limited or banned access to reproductive health care. These women are pilots, mechanics, gunners, medics, and the list goes on. What our national defense needs is for all our service members to be focused on executing their missions and coming home safe. Instead, our servicemembers and military families serving in states like Texas and Florida will now have to worry about whether or not they will receive the health care they need.  

“Make no mistake, this decision by the Trump administration will make recruiting and retaining women servicemembers more difficult and will only make our troops less safe.”

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