119-hr1742

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1742 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 1742

To establish leave policies of the Armed Forces for a member to seek an 
 abortion.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 February 27, 2025

 Ms. Sherrill (for herself, Ms. Houlahan, Ms. Escobar, Mr. Crow, Ms. 
 Sewell, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Mrs. Trahan, Mrs. 
 Cherfilus-McCormick, Ms. McClellan, Ms. Tokuda, Ms. Norton, Ms. 
 McCollum, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Ryan, Ms. DeGette, 
 Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Carson, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Ms. 
 Scanlon, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Panetta, Ms. Brownley, Ms. Elfreth, Mr. 
McGovern, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Swalwell, Mr. Horsford, 
 Mr. Norcross, Mr. Garcia of California, Ms. Salinas, Mr. Soto, Mr. 
 Davis of Illinois, Ms. Ansari, Mr. Khanna, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. 
Tran, Mr. Sorensen, Mrs. Hayes, Ms. Titus, Mr. Gottheimer, Ms. McBride, 
 Mr. Deluzio, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Courtney, Ms. 
 Crockett, Ms. Budzinski, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms. Lois Frankel of 
 Florida, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Jacobs, Ms. Strickland, and 
 Mr. Peters) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To establish leave policies of the Armed Forces for a member to seek an 
 abortion.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Access to Reproductive Care for 
Servicemembers Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds the following:

    (1) Following the Supreme Court's unjust decision to 
 eliminate the right to abortion, States across the country have 
 moved swiftly to ban abortion access, leading to even greater 
 barriers to care for military families.

    (2) Access to the full spectrum of reproductive care, 
 including abortion, is essential to a person's health and 
 central to their economic and social well-being. Bans and 
 restrictions on abortion delay access to abortion care and 
 therefore increase costs for members of the Armed Forces 
 seeking care. The consequence of these delays and barriers 
 could mean that a person is forced to carry a pregnancy against 
 their will, which can greatly affect their bodily autonomy, 
 financial stability, and overall well-being.

    (3) The Armed Forces have a large presence in many States 
 that ban or restrict access to abortion, many of which also 
 neighbor States that would likely ban abortion.

    (4) Members of the Armed Forces seeking care off-base may 
 be limited in their ability to do so due to restrictions on 
 leave or travel imposed by their unit.

    (5) Restrictions on receiving approval to take leave for 
 abortion or fertility care interfere with a member of the Armed 
 Forces' health, well-being, and right to access the care they 
 need. The decision to terminate a pregnancy or build a family 
 should not depend on the discretion or judgment of a military 
 commander.

    (6) Abortion and fertility care are time sensitive-
 procedures and access should not be delayed for members or 
 military families.

    (7) When a member of the Armed Forces decides to obtain 
 abortion or fertility care, it should be available, affordable, 
 private, and free from punishment, reprisal, or judgment by the 
 member's chain of command.

    (8) Commanders or approval authorities have a duty to 
 display objectivity, compassion, and discretion when addressing 
 all health care matters, including reproductive health care 
 matters, and to enforce existing policies against 
 discrimination and retaliation.

    (9) Members of the Armed Forces and their dependents often 
 face insurmountable barriers to accessing fertility care. These 
 logistical and systemic barriers include discriminatory 
 restrictions on insurance coverage, high out-of-pocket costs, 
 and limited availability of health care facilities. As a 
 result, many members and their dependents are unable to access 
 the fertility care they need to build their families. Ensuring 
 that members and their dependents can access this care is 
 critical to promoting their reproductive and bodily autonomy 
 and their right to decide if, when, and how they have children.

    (10) The harms of abortion-specific restrictions fall most 
 heavily on people who already face barriers to accessing health 
 care including people with low incomes, such as junior enlisted 
 members, and Black, Indigenous, and people of color, 
 immigrants, young people, people with disabilities, the LGBTQI+ 
 community, and those stationed overseas or in rural and other 
 medically underserved areas.

    (11) Equal access to abortion and fertility care, 
 everywhere, is essential to social and economic participation, 
 equality, reproductive autonomy, and the right to determine a 
 person's own life and future.

    (12) Infertility and access to fertility care implicate 
 core human rights--including rights to health, to sexual and 
 reproductive health, to make decisions about whether and when 
 to have children, and to equality and non-discrimination. 
 Denying members of the Armed Forces benefits to access 
 fertility care violates these rights and undermines their 
 reproductive and bodily autonomy.

    (13) Members of the Armed Forces are exposed to job-related 
 risk factors that increase the likelihood they will experience 
 infertility. Many members are deployed in combat areas where 
 they may experience service-related injuries or exposure to 
 toxic chemicals that harm their fertility. Additionally, the 
 Department of Defense estimates that between 20 and 30 percent 
 of members have experienced sexual assault and post-traumatic 
 stress disorder, both of which have been linked to infertility.

    (14) The denial of leave for an abortion or any other 
 reproductive health service violates the rights of members of 
 the Armed Forces. Access to care for military families should 
 not be determined by the personal beliefs of others.

    (15) In addition to the health and well-being implications 
 for members of the Armed Forces and their families, the failure 
 to address these issues will contribute to the challenges that 
 the Armed Forces faces in attracting and retaining personnel, 
 thereby negatively affecting military strength and readiness.

SEC. 3. LEAVE FOR A MEMBER OF THE ARMED FORCES FOR NON-COVERED 
 REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary concerned (as such term is defined 
in 

section 101 of title 10, United States Code) shall, with respect to 
non-covered reproductive health care (including abortion care) for a 
member of the Armed Forces or the dependent of such a member--

    (1) consider such care to be time-sensitive and therefore 
 approve leave for such non-covered reproductive health care; 
 and

    (2) not require the member or dependent to disclose to a 
 commanding officer the time-sensitive care or procedure being 
 received during such leave.

    (b) Reimbursement for Travel.--The Secretary concerned shall 
reimburse a member or dependent of a member for costs incurred while 
receiving non-covered reproductive health care services if timely 
access to such services is not available near the member or dependent's 
location. Such costs shall include--

    (1) the cost of meals, including taxes and tips;

    (2) the cost of lodging, including taxes, tips, and 
 services charges;

    (3) the cost of round-trip transportation between the 
 member or dependent's location and the non-covered reproductive 
 health care service location; and

    (4) if a member of the Armed Forces or a dependent of such 
 a member requests one or more escorts or attendants, the cost 
 of standard travel and transportation allowances for one or 
 more necessary escorts or attendants.
            (c) Privacy.--Health care providers of the Defense Health Agency 
and commanding officers shall, to the greatest extent practicable, 
protect the privacy of a member who takes leave under this section, 
including when such member makes a request for such leave and when such 
member returns to duty.
            (d) Prohibition.--No member of the Armed Forces may be subject to 
any adverse action for requesting, taking, providing, or approving an 
action authorized by this section.

    (e) Non-Covered Reproductive Health Care Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``non-covered reproductive health care'' includes--

    (1) abortion care other than abortion care permitted under 
 

section 1093 of title 10, United States Code; or

    (2) assisted reproductive technology, including--
        (A) ovarian stimulation and egg retrieval, 
 including any needed medications and procedures 
 required for retrieval, processing, and utilization of 
 an egg for assisted reproductive technology or 
 cryopreservation;
        (B) sperm collection and processing for assisted 
 reproductive technology or cryopreservation;
            (C) intrauterine insemination; and
            (D) in vitro fertilization, including--
            (i) in vitro fertilization with fresh 
 embryo transfer;
            (ii) gamete intrafallopian transfer;
            (iii) zygote intrafollopian transfer;
            (iv) pronuclear stage tubal transfer;
            (v) tubal embryo transfer; and
            (vi) frozen embryo transfer.
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