US Navy halts leave, travel reimbursements for abortion
The United States Navy has suspended the provision of leave and coverage of travel-related expenses for those seeking an abortion, reversing a policy from the Biden administration.
The Navy has adopted a new policy that provides support for access to non-covered reproductive care like in vitro fertilization, intrauterine insemination and sperm collection for cryopreservation.
Abortion, however, was not among the reproductive services for which leave or coverage of travel expenses would be permitted, according to the U.S. Naval Institute.
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The new policy applies to active and reserve sailors and Marines who are either seeking such services or are accompanying a spouse or dependent. Administrative absences can be up to three full weeks, with convalescent leave possibly being granted as well.
In October 2022, four months after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin sent a memorandum to senior Pentagon leadership directing them to create "travel and transportation allowances for Service members and their dependents, as appropriate and consistent with applicable federal law and operational requirements."
Additionally, Austin called for creating a "uniform Department of Defense policy that allows for appropriate administrative absence consistent with applicable federal law for non-covered reproductive healthcare."
Austin claimed that the policy was due to "concerns from many of our Service members and their families about the complexity and the uncertainty that they now face in accessing reproductive health care, including abortion services."
The decision garnered backlash from pro-life groups and elected officials, including U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., who oversaw a monthslong blockade of President Joe Biden's military appointments over the abortion travel policy.
In December 2023, Tuberville ended his blockade on military promotions, explaining that he was narrowing the focus of his protest to four-star generals amid mounting criticism from colleagues.
"We didn't get the win that we wanted. We've still got a bad policy," Tuberville stated at the time. "We tried to stand up for the taxpayers of this country."
In January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled "Enforcing the Hyde Amendment," which sought to curb federal funding of elective abortion.
"For nearly five decades, the Congress has annually enacted the Hyde Amendment and similar laws that prevent Federal funding of elective abortion, reflecting a longstanding consensus that American taxpayers should not be forced to pay for that practice," read the order, in part.
"However, the previous administration disregarded this established, commonsense policy by embedding forced taxpayer funding of elective abortions in a wide variety of Federal programs. It is the policy of the United States, consistent with the Hyde Amendment, to end the forced use of Federal taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortion."
