Regional Senators join letter to Pentagon on abortion leave for service members

WASHINGTON, D.C.-

Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), joined 36 Senate colleagues, including Oregon's U.S. Senators, in drafting a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on the national security imperatives tied to providing U.S. service members access to protected leave for abortion and reproductive health care services on March 27.

According to a press release from Senator Murray's Office, the letter (which can be read in full here) addresses what they view as national security implications in the wake of the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.

The letter reads 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.”