Monday, May 30, 2011
(photo: Chika Moses)
Federal law has long prohibited the use of taxpayer dollars to fund abortions, except in cases of rape or incest. But this exception does not apply to female members of the military who are raped and become pregnant.
Democrats, civil libertarians and some veterans want to change the law so that the Department of Defense’s healthcare system can provide abortions to women who are attacked while serving their country.
Advocates include Jessica Kenyon, a former Army soldier who had her career derailed after she was raped and impregnated by a fellow soldier while serving five years ago in South Korea. Unable to get an abortion, Kenyon left the service and wound up suffering a miscarriage after returning to the states.
Representative Susan Davis (D-California) and five other Democrats introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would have changed the policy to allow abortion coverage in cases of rape.
But that effort was stalled by House Republicans who used their control of the Rules Committee to keep the amendment from being debated or voted on.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Abortion Coverage Battle Brews in Military (by David Crary, Associated Press)
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