Abortion Ban On Women In The Military
Posted by Michelle Moquin on June 11th, 2010
Okay, so picture this: You are a woman, an American woman in the military, fighting for your country in Afghanistan. You can picture this…Women in the military…No big deal right? Women are over there just like the men…doing what they signed up to do.
A man decides he wants to have a little fun, play around, you know…’hook up’. No big deal. A woman decides to do the same. Again, no big deal right? Ah…but wait, what if the woman accidently gets pregnant, or worse what if she gets raped, or gang raped, and then she discovers she is pregnant? Check out this stat:
According to NPR, “In 2003, a survey of female veterans found that 30 percent said they were raped in the military. A 2004 study of veterans who were seeking help for post-traumatic stress disorder found that 71 percent of the women said they were sexually assaulted or raped while serving. And a 1995 study of female veterans of the Gulf and earlier wars, found that 90 percent had been sexually harassed.”
And with this many women getting raped, some are going to get pregnant. Getting raped in the military by the men that you are serving with is a big deal in itself, not to mention how horrific. I mean, where is the camaraderie? But then to have to endure the discovery that you are pregnant, stuck overseas, and can’t get the care that you need even in a military hospital and even if you pay for it…now that should be criminal.
Right now, women who serve in the military in places like Afghanistan have nowhere to turn if they face an unintended pregnancy because of an abortion ban. Women in the military unfortunately get the raw end of the deal, and it’s time for it to end.
I received this letter from NARAL Pro-Choice America. You can help end the ban.
Dear Michelle,
We are just a few steps shy of ending a ban on military women’s ability to use their own money to access abortion.
Anti-choice politicians are digging in to keep the ban in place. One senator from Mississippi even called on his anti-choice colleagues to prepare for a big fight.1
More and more women are fighting in the military in places like Afghanistan, where abortion is illegal, unsafe, or strictly limited. Servicewomen facing an unintended pregnancy in these circumstances literally have nowhere to turn.
We can fix this situation just by giving women who serve in the military the same rights they would have if they had any other job. Ending the ban would mean that servicewomen could personally pay for abortion care at a military hospital where it’s safe.
We already had a huge victory: an important Senate committee (the Senate Armed Services Committee) voted to end the ban at the end of May. Now we must get a majority of senators to do the same when the bill comes to the floor.
We have our best chance in years to win, but anti-choice Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) has threatened to keep the ban in place, saying, “I guarantee you this will be challenged on the floor of the House and Senate with separate amendments.”2
Thanks for helping us put an end to a cruel and politically motivated ban that puts our servicewomen at risk.
Readers: Why there was ever a ban to begin with is just mens’ way of, once again, trying to control women. Amazing that the men in the military can rape women in the military and the women can’t even get an abortion in the military hospital. In my opinion, not only should this ban be stopped, but women shouldn’t have to pay for an abortion out of their own pockets when it is the men in the military who are the perpetrators. But hey, if that is the only way for a military woman to be able to get an abortion, then we need to support this campaign to end the ban. Can you please write a letter? Thanks.
Zen Lill: I got your media photo but was out all day with a client. I hope that the event went well! So..did you all do nails for the 8 hours and break the record?
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my ‘loyal’(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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June 11th, 2010 at 11:20 am
Hi Mischa, thanks for the article yesterday…did not break record but had fun trying, anyone doing the math could see that 100 nail students could outdo 30 nail pros but after 8 hours we came in at 1725 (thereabouts) and the record is 1897. So not bad if you calculate the numbers…: ) it was totally fun and it felt like I speed-dated 105 humans, men women and children : ) so amazing! Two things peeps: clean under your nails whether you choose to get pro manicures or not, that’s just gross, and the other thing, try to relax your hands, I could not believe how many people had uptight hands! The toughing moment was when I met a 23 year old woman who had leukemia and was saved by this program, made my eyes water and my arm hairs stand up. It was hot as blazes and my arms are chocolate brown today : )
I would think that the females would also need flight coverage as well, bc there won’t be an abortion performed in Muslim territory. I will take care of getting a letter out asap this weekend. Thanks for posting, as usual : )
caio, Luv, Zen Lill
June 11th, 2010 at 12:10 pm
I heard a story on this on NPR. Maybe the same one. What was also said was that the women would then be “discharged” to then subsequently go out and have the baby. A means of getting rid of women in their workplace…