Statement by Congresswoman Jane Harman

Congresswoman Jane harman - Press Release

NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2003
May 09, 2002

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of this amendment which I have co-authored with the gentlewoman from California for years. Since 1995, we have tried each year to change the policy that I think truly does harm to women serving in our military overseas.

Mr. Chairman, as we deploy women all over the world in the war on terrorism, it is urgent that they know they have our full support, our prayers and the same rights as every other American woman under our Constitution.

I listened to the last speaker, my good friend the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Ryun), and it is not the case that military women have the same rights to pay for abortion services overseas as military women who serve at home. There are limited rights to abortion services overseas, but they are not the same rights that military women in America have. It is this difference that we seek to eliminate with this amendment.

Mr. Chairman, over 100,000 women, active service members, spouses and dependents of military personnel live on military bases overseas and rely on military hospitals for their medical care. It is not fair for them to have to violate their personal privacy to reveal that they are pregnant in order to get permission to fly home to have a safe abortion in an American hospital.

We are not asking the Federal government to pay for abortions overseas. We are not asking military doctors who have moral, religious or ethical objections to perform abortions overseas. All we are asking is that servicewomen stationed abroad have the same constitutional rights as servicewomen living here.

Mr. Chairman, they have earned those rights. They are putting their lives on the line to preserve our freedom. We should not ask them potentially to sacrifice their lives to secure an abortion.