The Department of Defense released partial data on a policy that covers travel expenses for military personnel seeking abortions.
The policy included travel and transportation allowances that gave military personnel and their dependents access to “uninsured reproductive health care,” as well as administrative absences. This includes abortions that are not covered by insurance and assisted reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization, ovarian stimulation, and egg retrieval.
The policy was used 12 times between June and December 2023, according to figures released Tuesday, said Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon deputy spokeswoman.
This number represents the number of times the policy was used, not the number of people who used it. Therefore, it may have been used multiple times by the same military personnel.
Supreme Court appears inclined to maintain broad access to abortion pills
The Pentagon in Washington, DC, seen from above on May 10, 2023. The Department of Defense released data on its policy covering travel expenses for military personnel seeking abortions. (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images)
In these 12 cases mentioned, the total cost to the Department of Defense was just under $40,800. Singh declined to say specifically what non-covered reproductive health services were used due to privacy concerns.
Singh said each Department of Defense service has been given an August deadline to submit data. Some were earlier than others, so data from January 2023 to May 2023 was not available.
File: Pentagon seen in Washington, D.C. The Pentagon’s policy, which covers travel expenses for service members seeking abortions, was used 12 times from June 2023 to December 2023. (AP Photo/Charles Dalapak, File)
The Biden administration introduced the policy in response to the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade the previous summer. This was controversial and caused an uproar among Republican lawmakers who tried to kill it.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
In February 2023, Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville launched a one-man campaign to block President Biden’s military nominations over the Pentagon’s “unlawful” policy of providing travel expenses to military personnel seeking abortions. I got on board. . He finally ended his campaign in December.
Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.
