Sherrill-led NDAA amendment would codify Defense Department’s abortion travel policies

At a meeting of the House Rules Committee yesterday to consider amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) advocated for her amendment codifying the U.S. Department of Defense’s current policy of ensuring servicemembers and their families’ access to abortion services.

After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that abortion is not a right guaranteed by the Constitution, the Department of Defense implemented new rules providing travel assistance for military families who lived in states where abortion was banned or severely restricted. The policy was a major victory, Sherrill said yesterday, and needs to be protected going forward.

“Many of our servicewomen are serving far from home and have neither the support networks nor the finances to seek that care on their own,” Sherrill said. “Providing them time off of work and travel is the bare minimum we can do for those who have chosen to serve our nation… The denial of leave for an abortion or any other reproductive health service violates the rights of members of the Armed Forces.”

By far the most prominent critic of the Defense Department’s policy has been U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville, a Republican from Alabama. In protest of the policy, Tuberville has single-handedly blocked hundreds of senior military promotions, much to the chagrin of top military officials as well as some members of Tuberville’s own party.

Sherrill blasted Tuberville in her testimony yesterday, and pushed for another NDAA amendment that would study what the effects of the indefinite blockade have been.

“Senator Tuberville’s crusade must end,” she said. “We need to know the true impact of this obstruction, which is why I am introducing this amendment to analyze the impact these holds are having on our armed forces.”

The NDAA is an annual must-pass bill appropriating funding to the Department of Defense – one that Sherrill, as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, had a hand in writing. The House Rules Committee is currently considering more than 1,500 amendments to the bill, including at least one led by 11 of New Jersey’s 12 House members.