by Nina Schwartz, NCJW legislative associate

On May 27, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted to lift the ban that prevented women in the military from using their own private funds to pay for abortion services. In place since 1995, that ban prohibits servicewomen from using their own money to pay for abortion care at overseas military hospitals in almost all cases. That the Senate Armed Services Committee passed the repeal of the abortion ban as part of the Fiscal Year 2011 National Defense Authorization Act was an important first step. Step two is passing the full Senate.

More than 100,000 women live on military bases and rely on military hospitals for their health care. As long as this abortion ban remains in effect, these women will face significant obstacles when attempting to access safe abortion services. NCJW will continue working to ensure that the provision allowing servicewomen to use their own money to pay for abortion services is included in the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act and signed into law.