- 6 months ago
At a House Armed Services Committee hearing before the Congressional recess, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) condemned limitations on abortion access for servicewomen.
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00:00Now consider log number 5618 by Ms. Sherrill. For what purposes does the gentlelady seek recognition?
00:07Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.
00:10The clerk will please distribute the amendment without objection. The reading of the amendment is dispensed with.
00:14The chair now recognizes the gentlelady for the purpose of explaining her amendment.
00:18Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:19Today, across the country, women's reproductive freedoms are under attack.
00:23After the Supreme Court's MAGA majority overruled Roe, 19 states now outright ban or severely restrict abortion access.
00:33So my daughters have less freedoms than I did while growing up.
00:37And it's unthinkable to me that so many of our service women are already serving with less rights than I had while in the Navy.
00:44They're being stationed in states like Texas or Florida without basic access to reproductive care.
00:51The fact that our military treatment facilities are only allowed to provide abortions in extremely limited circumstances is unacceptable and puts the health and well-being of our service members and their families at risk.
01:04The decision to get an abortion is deeply personal and should be made by a woman and her doctor, not by politicians.
01:11Our service members expect that they will receive the best possible health care, but our military health care providers can't even give them an abortion when their health is at risk.
01:22And we know that, quote, exceptions to abortion bans don't work.
01:26We see horrific stories on the news about women who were denied care that they were supposed to receive under an exception, often ending with a mother nearly losing her life.
01:37We have more than 100,000 active duty service members stationed in Texas.
01:42We've heard stories of a young woman who died after experiencing a tragic miscarriage at 17 weeks.
01:48After being faced with this devastating loss, her doctors delayed medically necessary and life-saving care because of the state's abortion ban.
01:57She died as a result of an infection she developed because that care was delayed, leaving behind a young daughter.
02:03In Georgia, another young woman experienced a rare complication with a medication abortion where her body did not expel all of the fetal tissue.
02:11When she sought out medical care, she waited 20 hours before doctors were able to operate because of the state's abortion ban.
02:19While she waited, her infection spread and her organs began to fail.
02:23Amber's care came too late and she died as a result of the infection, leaving behind a six-year-old son.
02:29We ask our servicewomen to put their lives on the line for this country.
02:33They shouldn't have to risk their lives giving birth.
02:36But the fact remains that a woman should never need a so-called exception to get an abortion,
02:41and it shouldn't need to be an emergency before she can get care.
02:45It should be available as a decision she gets to make over her own body and her own life.
02:50My amendment would repeal the draconian ban on abortions within the military health system,
02:55allowing our servicewomen and military families to have the freedom of access and the freedom to choose.
03:01Thank you, and I yield back.
03:03General Lee yields back.
03:04Chair, I recognize the gentleman from Colorado, Mr. Crank.
03:07Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
03:08I oppose this amendment.
03:10The amendment would repeal Section 1093 of Title X,
03:14which would force American taxpayers, coerce American taxpayers, force them,
03:21including those with deeply held moral and religious objections,
03:25to fund elective abortions through the Department of Defense.
03:29This is unacceptable.
03:31It's deeply divisive.
03:33And it's completely inconsistent with our longstanding bipartisan agreement that we have had.
03:39The prohibition on federal funds for elective abortions has been the law of the land for over 40 years.
03:47It's also a longstanding provision, by the way, that the majority of Americans support.
03:53In January of this year, a Marist poll found that a majority of Americans oppose taxpayer dollars going towards abortion services.
04:04Again, this amendment violates the sanctity of life.
04:08It upends a long bipartisan agreement, and it goes against the majority of Americans' beliefs.
04:16The law is clear.
04:18DOD has no business funding or performing elective abortions with taxpayer resources.
04:25And I urge my colleagues to support life.
04:28I urge them to support common sense.
04:31And I urge them to oppose this amendment.
04:33And I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
04:35The gentleman yields back, Chair, and I recognize the gentlelady from Pennsylvania, Ms. Houlihan.
04:43Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
04:44And I'm very, very proud to support this amendment, which builds on my bill.
04:48That's the March for Military Service Members Act.
04:51And I thank my colleague and my great friend, Representative Cheryl, for offering it today.
04:56I hope and I believe that this might be your last NDAA.
05:01This administration's attack on reproductive health care for our servicewomen is just another way to try to get women out of our military and to try to discourage other women to join.
05:12When you're a woman, you raise your hand and you swear an oath to the Constitution to protect and defend this nation.
05:17You go where you're needed.
05:19By the way, the same goes for men as well.
05:22You go where you are told to go.
05:25Our service members don't get to choose where they're stationed, and nor should they.
05:29And for many servicewomen and many service family members who are also women and girls, that means going to states where basic reproductive health care is criminalized.
05:37I think that we can agree that service members and their families should, without question, be able to access health care on their own time and with their own resources.
05:47But this administration's attack on both reproductive health care and women in the military threatens to make even that impossible.
05:54I had my oldest child while I was in uniform.
05:58As a veteran now, I reflect back and ask myself, if I had happened to serve in Pete Hegseth's DOD today, would I feel comfortable?
06:06Would I feel safe with my obstetric and gynecological choices?
06:10And the answer, unconscionably, is maybe.
06:14I was stationed in Boston at that time.
06:17But what if I had been stationed in today's Texas, where my youngest daughter now lives?
06:22I would most definitely not feel supported or safe.
06:26So I ask my colleagues to support this amendment and to ensure that health care is available to our military and their families,
06:33to everyone, everywhere, every time, because they give their lives to protect us.
06:39Thank you, and I yield back.
06:41General Lee yields back.
06:42Chair, and I recognize General Lee from Hawaii, Ms. Takuda.
06:46Thank you, Mr. Chair.
06:47I strongly support this amendment.
06:49And as it was said, if you support life, if you support the life of our service members, then you should also support this amendment.
06:58As was so eloquently stated by the ranking member of the Military Personnel Subcommittee,
07:03America's service members don't get to choose their mission.
07:07Where they go, where they live, and what they do is up to the needs of the nation.
07:13And in return, we must ensure that our service members and their families have access to the high-quality health care that they need,
07:20wherever they are stationed, the health care every single person deserves, and we fight for here in Congress.
07:26We are not meeting that promise to our service members.
07:29In many states and in some countries where service members are stationed,
07:33they do not have full access to essential reproductive health care, including abortion,
07:37without having to travel hundreds of thousands of miles, or thousands of miles in cases.
07:44Just in the United States, more than 2 million beneficiaries of the military health system live in the 12 states in America,
07:51where abortion is prohibited or almost fully restricted.
07:55And RAND found that roughly 40% of women on active duty have either severely restricted access or no access to abortion care.
08:02Nearly 40% of military spouses say state abortion bans would make them less likely to recommend military service to others.
08:12States with restrictive abortion laws have higher rates of total maternal mortality.
08:18And while female service members put their bodies and lives on the lines each day in defense of the nation,
08:23we must not further put them in harm's way by denying them access to basic health care, which includes abortions.
08:31The restrictions that Congresswoman Cheryl's amendment would repeal prevent service members and their families
08:37from getting the health care that they need, and they interfere in the doctor-patient relationship.
08:43Everyone, including our military families, should have the freedom to make decisions about their bodies and their health care.
08:50The current policy is cruel.
08:52Access to health care is a sacrifice no one should be asked to make,
08:56especially those that are already sacrificing so much in defense of our freedoms and this country.
09:01It's long past time to repeal these restrictions and allow service members and their families the access to care that they 100% deserve.
09:09Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I yield back.
09:11General Lee yields back.
09:11Chair, and I recognize the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Fallon.
09:14Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
09:15You know, we just heard that women, the supposition was that women would be less likely to join the military
09:20because they can't have their abortions paid for by the American taxpayer.
09:25Readiness, therefore, would then be affected, and I think it's absolutely hyperbolic and ridiculous to say
09:29that this administration wants women to, it's going to discourage them to join the military
09:36or encourage them to leave if they're already in.
09:39So let's look at facts.
09:40In 2010, women made up approximately 15% of the military.
09:43Now it's 18%.
09:45It didn't go down.
09:46It wasn't static.
09:47In fact, it went up.
09:48And then for one of our colleagues to say that Texas is this state that's draconian and full of darkness.
09:54Well, people vote with their feet.
09:56New York State, population from 2010 to 2025, population went up 3%.
10:02California, it went up 6.7%.
10:05And in New Jersey, interestingly enough, it went up 7.9%.
10:09But in Texas, in that same time frame, it magically went up 28%.
10:15People vote with their feet.
10:18Texas strong.
10:18I yield back.
10:20Gentleman yields back.
10:21Chair now, I recognize the gentleman from California.
10:22Ms. Jacobs.
10:24Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
10:28It's funny to me that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle keep talking about what is being forced on the American taxpayer
10:35when the only thing being forced is women being forced to give birth.
10:41Restrictions and bans on abortion care don't match up with how things work.
10:45They deny basic rights, endanger people's health, and ignore their wishes.
10:49Everyone deserves bodily autonomy and the right to make decisions about their own bodies and their own futures.
10:54Some people aren't more worthy of that than others, and some people's abortions aren't more deserved than others.
11:01This is a right that should be freely exercised by anyone who needs it.
11:05And let's talk about facts, how things actually happen.
11:09Rape and insect exceptions are rarely used.
11:11And that's because you have to prove and relive your trauma in order to do that.
11:16Most survivors don't actually report rape or incest to the police, often out of fear or shame or trauma.
11:22And often, proving rape or incest to get abortion care means providing a police report,
11:27forcing survivors to navigate the legal system to qualify for care,
11:31a legal system that we all know does not work very quickly or necessarily equitably.
11:36Imagine being a young lieutenant in the military when you get raped by maybe someone you're serving with
11:45or maybe even someone in your chain of command, which we know has happened.
11:49You are saying that she would not be able to get the abortion care she needs
11:53unless she reports to the very chain of command that maybe was part of her abuse?
11:58That is ridiculous and so demeaning of our servicewomen.
12:03And we've seen in recent years that the vague definition of what counts as a threat to the mother's life or health
12:08is incredibly dangerous.
12:11A 2024 ProPublica investigation found that at least two women,
12:15Amber Nicole Thurman and Candy Miller, died in Georgia after being denied medical care
12:19stemming from these abortion restrictions.
12:21And a separate study in a medical journal in 2024 found that many providers are preoccupied
12:27with the need to protect themselves from criminal liability
12:30and are increasingly hesitant to provide abortion care that their patients need.
12:34These exceptions aren't compassionate.
12:37They're not reasonable and they're not a compromise.
12:40And I think it's very telling that every single member who's spoken in favor of this has been a man
12:44and every single person who's spoken against this has been a man
12:47and every single person who's spoken in favor of it has been a woman.
12:49And it's okay if you don't understand how reproduction works,
12:52but why don't you defer policy judgments to those of us who do?
12:55Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
12:57I urge my colleagues to support this amendment so we can remove these dangerous exceptions
13:00and I yield back.
13:02Chairman Gilead yields back.
13:05The Chair and I recognize the gentleman from California, Mr. Cisneros.
13:08Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
13:10I am in full support of this amendment by my good friend, Representative Sherrill from New Jersey.
13:16When I was under Secretary of Defense for Personnel Readiness,
13:19we changed the DOD policy so that service members or their family members could travel to get reproductive health care
13:27if it was not allowed in a state where they were stationed.
13:32As proud as I was that we were able to do that and to update it and provide that to our service members,
13:39I still knew that it wasn't enough because they were not able to get the care that they needed where they were stationed,
13:45which they should be entitled to.
13:47You know, as a Californian, an individual from California can go and they can get the reproductive health care,
13:55they can get the abortion, they can get also, you know, IVF and other things too, right,
14:01to help them have a child as well.
14:03And it's unfair that that is not allowed and not available throughout the country,
14:09that they are not able to get the abortion.
14:11And on the other side of the aisle here, or on the other side of the table here,
14:17I participated and testified in a personnel and readiness,
14:21or personnel subcommittee hearing on reproductive health care.
14:26And the stories that the women's service members told was just so overwhelming about how important it was to be able to have that choice,
14:36to make that decision for themselves as to how they wanted to proceed with their life and how really transformative it was to their career.
14:46For some of them, it allowed them to make this decision and stay going with their career
14:51because they just were not at a point in their life where they were ready to have a child.
14:55So, I am in full support of this amendment.
14:59I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this.
15:04Give women the choice of health care that they deserve and that they should have.
15:09And with that, I yield back.
15:10Gentleman Yields, chair and I recognize the gentleman from California, Mr. Whitesides.
15:14Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
15:17I rise today in strong support of Congressman Sherrill's amendment to repeal the restrictions placed on our service members seeking reproductive care.
15:24Let's be clear.
15:26We are living in a time when my daughter has fewer reproductive rights than her mother did.
15:30Most women in our armed services joined when Roe was the law of the land.
15:34We made them a promise that their rights would be protected.
15:38Now, with no control over where they are stationed, we are threatening their basic fairness and freedom.
15:44No one who signs up to serve our country should be denied access to essential health care,
15:48especially not because of where they are stationed.
15:50Right now, nearly half of American service women live in states that restrict abortion care.
15:56Women in uniform are being forced to navigate a patchwork of state laws as well as their chain of command
16:01that often ignore their sacrifice and strip away their autonomy.
16:05That's unacceptable.
16:07Reproductive care, including abortion, is health care, and denying it puts lives and careers at risk.
16:13Our service members do not lose their rights when they put on the uniform.
16:16This amendment would restore their dignity, respects their service,
16:20and affirms that the government should not interfere with private medical decisions.
16:24I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and stand up for the many women who defend our freedoms every day.
16:30I yield back.
16:31Gentleman yields back.
16:32Does anybody else wish to speak on Ms. Sherrill's amendment?
16:35Hearing none, there's no further debate.
16:37The amendment offered by Ms. Sherrill, so many who's in favor will say aye.
16:41Those opposed, no.
16:43No.
16:43Opinion of the chair, the no's have it.
16:45Would you like a recorded vote?
16:46Recorder vote is requested.
16:47Recorder vote will be postponed.
16:48The Ronald for the firm, the no's have it.
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