[PDI] Stop House Republicans from blocking abortion access for raped soldiers

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From: "Becky Bond, CREDO Action" <act@credoaction.com>
Date: Jun 14, 2012 9:06 AM
Subject: Stop House Republicans from blocking abortion access for raped
soldiers
To: "Daniel A. Stafford" <aquarianm@gmail.com>

**
[image: Stop the House from blocking abortion access
for raped soldiers.]
<http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=6900212&p=military_choice&id=41755-2914033-U3CKj1x&t=1>
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* "Women serving in the military deserve the same health care protections
as every other federal employee. Don't block abortion access for raped
soldiers in the final version of the 2013 National Defense Authorization
Bill."
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*Stop the House from blocking abortion access for raped
soldiers.<http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=6900212&p=military_choice&id=41755-2914033-U3CKj1x&t=7>
*

Dear Daniel,

This is shocking, even for our U.S. Congress.

If a female employee of the U.S. State Department is raped while serving
abroad in Afghanistan, her federal health plan will pay for an abortion
should she become pregnant. However if a woman serving abroad as a member
of the U.S. military is raped, her military health plan will NOT provide
for an abortion if she becomes pregnant as a result of that violent and
reprehensible act.

According to a recent report from Mother Jones,1 the Pentagon has an even
more drastic policy on access to abortion than the Hyde Amendment which
bans the use of federal funds for abortion care unless a woman has been the
victim of rape, incest or she could literally die unless she her pregnancy
is terminated.

This disparity is so unsettling that the Senate Armed Services Committee
recently passed a proposal that would fix this loophole in federal law on a
rare bipartisan vote. But the extremists in Congress will almost certainly
strip this proposal from the National Defense Authorization Act when it
comes up for a vote in the House. The only way we can hope to stop it is
with massive public pushback.

* Tell Republicans and anti-choice Democrats in the House: Don't block
abortion access for raped soldiers. Click here to automatically sign the
petition.
<http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=6900213&p=military_choice&id=41755-2914033-U3CKj1x&t=8>
*

According to Kate Sheppard's report in *Mother Jones*,2 there are 200,000
women serving on active duty in our military and in 2011 alone there were
471 reported instances of rape. But with the Pentagon itself estimating
that only 13.5% of rapes are officially reported, that means around 3,500
service members are raped per year.

Women who are serving on military bases abroad can't simply go to their
local Planned Parenthood should they seek an abortion after finding
themselves pregnant as a result of rape. And if there hasn't been a formal
finding of rape, a rape survivor in the military can't even pay to have the
procedure done in the medical facility on base. Many women serving in our
armed forces are stationed in foreign countries where safe abortion care is
not easily obtained outside our military bases. And it may not be possible
or affordable for a raped woman soldier to travel to the United States in
order to receive the care she needs. Our policies need to be reformed to
ensure that women in the military who have been raped have access to the
medical care they need.

As Senator Jean Shaheen who introduced the proposal change to this heinous
policy explained to *Mother Jones*, "Most of the women affected here are
enlisted women who are making about $18,000 a year. They're young, they
don't have access to a lot of resources. Many of them are overseas."

* Tell Republicans and anti-choice Democrats in the House: Don't block
abortion access for raped soldiers. Click here to automatically sign the
petition
<http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=6900213&p=military_choice&id=41755-2914033-U3CKj1x&t=9>
*

A handful of Republicans in the Senate realized that protecting rape
survivors is not a partisan issue and joined Democrats to pass this bill
out of committee and work to provide relief to women in our armed services.
But their colleagues in the House will not join them in helping to pass
this much needed bill unless we force them to take action. We need to tell
Republicans as well as anti-choice Democrats in the House (including the
so-called Stupak Democrats who voted against women's reproductive health in
the Affordable Care Act)3 that we cannot let this policy stand.

CREDO is a staunch supporter of a woman's right to choose and we will
continue to work for the repeal of the Hyde Amendment. But until then, even
in our polarized Congress which is packed with anti-choice zealots, there
are some lines that Republicans and anti-choice Democrats should be very
afraid to cross. This is one of them. We cannot stand by and let women
serving in the U.S. military be subjected to a stricter standard for
abortion access than the already horribly restrictive Hyde Amendment.

Click below to automatically sign the petition:
*
http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=6900213&p=military_choice&id=41755-2914033-U3CKj1x&t=10
*

This is one we can win if enough of us speak out. Thank you for taking
action.

Becky Bond, Political Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets
<http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=11&id=41755-2914033-U3CKj1x&t=11>

1. House GOP Blocking Abortion Access for Raped
Soldiers<http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=6900214&id=41755-2914033-U3CKj1x&t=12>,
*Mother Jones*, June 13, 2012.
2. *ibid.*
3. Many Previously Pro-Choice Dems Voted for Stupak
Amendment<http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=5019&id=41755-2914033-U3CKj1x&t=13>,
FiveThirtyEight.com, November 9, 2009
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