{"id":5484,"date":"2022-08-12T22:27:23","date_gmt":"2022-08-12T22:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/08\/12\/dod-attempts-to-answer-your-questions-about-post-roe-abortion-access\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:07:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:07:31","slug":"dod-attempts-to-answer-your-questions-about-post-roe-abortion-access","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/2022\/08\/12\/dod-attempts-to-answer-your-questions-about-post-roe-abortion-access\/","title":{"rendered":"DoD attempts to answer your questions about post-Roe abortion access"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s been six weeks since the Supreme Court decided to eliminate federally guaranteed access to abortion<\/a>. That change has created an extra layer of question and anxieties for the military community, which was already navigating rules<\/a> about what their health insurance covers and whether they could secure leave to end a pregnancy safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To address those concerns, the Pentagon on Friday posted a question-and-answer document<\/a>, which it began working on in late June, to help troops and their families navigate any new state-enacted legal restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most importantly, the Dobbs v. Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization does not change anything that military treatment centers are able to do, as the Defense Department is governed by a federal law that prohibits federal funding from being used to perform abortions.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The fall of constitutionally protected abortion has raised a myriad of questions on how and whether service members can gain access to abortion.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

If a pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, or if carrying the pregnancy puts the mother\u2019s life at risk, a military doctor will either perform the procedure or the patient will be referred to a private provider and the cost will be covered by Tricare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That remains the case, according to the document, even if one of these covered abortions is now, or becomes, illegal in the state in which the patient is stationed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, Ohio\u2019s abortion law makes no exception for rape or incest, but an airman stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base can still end a pregnancy under these circumstances at an on-base clinic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If that clinic does not have a doctor who performs abortions, the airman can take medical leave and have all travel expenses covered to obtain that abortion elsewhere \u2015 in neighboring Pennsylvania, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast to states like Mississippi and Oklahoma, where rape survivors can only get abortions if they report their assaults to police, DoD regulations do not require notifying law enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDoD providers may continue to provide covered abortion services as part of their Federal duties if medically appropriate, even if those services are prohibited by state law or licensing requirements,\u201d according to the Q&A.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DoD does not maintain a central list of installations that have abortion providers, according to the document, but patients are encouraged to speak to their primary care physicians if they need to obtain one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For cases that aren\u2019t covered by Tricare, service members will have to take personal leave and cover their own travel expenses if it\u2019s necessary to go out of state, because DoD policy does not allow for reimbursement of the expenses associated with non-covered abortions \u2015 though federal law does not prohibit them from granting nonchargeable medical leave or covering those travel expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\t