Reproductive Healthcare for Servicewomen

[Stacy]

I currently am a law student and reproductive rights activist. I am researching the topic of reproductive healthcare in the military and was shocked to learn of both the prevalence of rape and sexual assault in the military, despite a no-sex rule, and also the ban on abortions.

First, I commend you if you are a servicewoman. It is something I do not have the courage to do. If you have any thoughts (and you can definitely keep it anonymous if you would like), I would greatly appreciate it. Does the no-sex rule really work? Is birth control widely available? Is it feasible for a woman to leave the base if she wants to go elsewhere to obtain an abortion? What do you think the reasoning is that the military will pay for breast implants and liposuction but not abortions?

Thanks for your time. I am really intrigued by this topic as servicewomen are defending our freedom as Amercans abroad, yet they are being denied a fundamental right in and of itself.

Thanks,
Stacy
sporto05@law.du.edu

[wildblueamn]

have you even tried contacting a military post/base and asked to speak to a doctor who treats military members? I would suggest you get the real facts about military services before you take the they said/I said conversations of someone else.

Use the local post/base PA office for getting in touch with medical personnel.

1. Yes we're afforded birth control pills (usually whatever they stock and if we want something else we go off base but its paid for)

2. No-sex rule is true, but we're human and people make mistakes. Because we wear the uniform doesnt make us infallible. We have core values however not everyone abides by them- understood?

3. The military is a micro-cosm of the population itself and because sexual assault occurs and in the military - we're magnified because we're supposed to be error-free, perfect and exaulted for our service. Again- we're human.

4. Contact the local post/base MEO (military equal opportunity office) for base/post programs on handling sexual assault and violence- find out how we are educated annually if not more on what happens, how to avoid it, what the symptoms are re: our troops etc.

5. Contact the local post/base JAG office (legal) for what happens in the case of an alleged incident.

Dont go off half-cocked because you're an activist and you think everything is totally unfair for 'us' women in the military. Thats not true and you need to get to the right people on the base/post before making accusations.

Lipo/breast implants? ASK A DOCTOR!

Abortions are only provided when the health of the woman is at risk. Why? Who knows but its a military ruling- ASK JAG OR THE MEDS! Yes a woman can go downtown however she will pay for it out of her pocket if its a personal choice.

We're not denied fundamental rights- we're fed, we're housed, we're uniformed, educated, given a job and allowed to travel-- EVEN get to work in the same room as men :roll:

Reiterate- Go to your local post/base/camp/naval station to ask for a legitimate avenue for information - PUBLIC AFFAIRS!

[Stacy]

I do have alternative perspectives on this and the statute, but I am here because I want a woman's perspective on this, not because I want to go off "half-cocked" on this because I am an activist.
I think when a woman is treated inferior in such a blatant way, that is something to shout about. I am simply trying to find women that have been affected by these laws because it is shocking they have not been challenged. A woman has a fundamental right, by law, to control her body and to decide on having various medical treatments, but women in the military are denied this. This is not right and it is not legal.

Thank you for taking the time to answer some of my questions. If you feel like you can answer some more, I would greatly appreciate it. You said the no-sex rule does exist - but others said it doesn't. What specific area of the armed forces are you in? If there is a no-sex rule, what happens when somebody gets pregnant? Does the no-sex rule not apply to married women in the military?

Thanks

[TSgt Parks]

wow, this is interesting. I have been in the service for over 10 years now. I can honestly say, I have never heard of the no-sex rule. I have worked with other women that have been pregnant and are still in the service with kids. In some ways the rules in the Military are old-fashioned, but then again, with the breakdown of values in todays society, old-fashioned may be the way to go.
However, could you please explain, what the no-sex rule is?

[formerafstaffsgt]

Hello, Stacy,

Thank you for researching this important topic. I served in the Air Force for 4 years and am planning on returning soon.

My own experience is that I was able to get birth control through the base pharmacy without paying out of pocket (that is to say Tricare -military health insurance-paid for it), and my physicians were all very supportive, sometimes a little pushy, about getting on/being on birth control.

I, thankfully, was not in a position where I felt I needed to get an abortion while I was in. However, if I had been in that position, I believe I could have paid for it out of pocket and gotten this service off base (depending where I was stationed at the time, of course).

I am unsure how many medical insurance companies are willing to fund abortion or if most are required to by law or what? (If you know the answer to that I'd like to learn that info.) ......So, you could go the route of comparing other medical insurance companies benefits to Tricare's benefits - I am unclear if you are studying what services are provided by military health care professionals or if you are studying what services are funded by military health care insurance.

I did have a couple friends who were single and became pregnant while serving, and they decided to have their babies. They were not formally punished for becoming pregnant while single that I am aware of.

My experiences mentioned above lead to me to think that, if there is a "no-sex" rule, it was not enforced during my 4 years at the three different AF bases where I served.

I would be interested to learn what you find in your research!

[formerafstaffsgt]

I might add that I worked in Public Health in the Air Force those 4 years. I did a lot of educating about preventing sexually transmitted disease, our office provided frequent presentations to different military groups on base and individual STD counseling as well as offering free condoms for anyone who wanted them. So- I didn't see evidence of a "no-sex" rule in that setting either... That's not to say that it doesn't exist in the military- just not in the hospital environments in which I worked.

[clopez85]

On the no-sex rule I want to say you may have heard of fraternizing among the different ranks, that is definitely a no -no. Other than that I don't know how you can keep young singles apart unless you incarcerate them. Remember the military is like any other community in the world, dating is allowed, as long as you are not breaking any rules. Many of the married couples in the military actually met int he military.


As to the rape and sexual assault comment please visit www.sapro.gov, not sure if correct. They maintain and keep the statistics on cases and what the military is doing with prevention and education.

SAPRO@wso.whs.mil

703-696-9422
would be interested in your findings, please post.
Thank you

[clopez85]

http://www.sapr.mil/HomePage.aspx?Topic=Home

here is the correct information

[LTC William E. Bailey]

So much of the original assumption is wrong that it begs for clarification. Women in the military are not treated unfairly. Women may or may not have a fundamental right by law to control their bodies (you'd be hard pressed to identify the location in the Constitution where this is mentioned), but there is no obligation for the taxpayers to foot the bill. Any female member of the US military can get an abortion from a civilian clinic if she pays for it. The majority Republican Congress passed legislation refusing to pay for abortions at military hospitals unless the life of the mother was in jeopardy. Whether or not this is right or wrong is open to debate, but it is perfectly legal if Congress says so since they make the laws.

The percentage of rapes and sexual assaults is generally no greater in the military community than it is in the civilian community, by population. Where did you get your data..? I would argue that even one rape is too many, but since we recruit from the population at large we will occasionally get a few bad apples.

In a 3 June 2004 report by The Washington Post, it was reported that the numbers, released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request are the first year-to-year servicewide tallies on sexual assault cases provided to the public since 1998. They indicate that Army efforts to ameliorate the problem over the past five years have had little to no impact.

According to the data, the total number of reported cases of sexual assault involving Army personnel increased by 19 percent from 1999 to 2002 -- from 658 to 783, with annual increases ranging from 2 percent to 13 percent. During the same period, the number of reported rapes increased by 25 percent -- from 356 to 445, according to the data. The number of Army personnel on active duty, including reservists, rose during this period by less than 6 percent.

Between 2002 and 2003, according to the data, the number of reported sexual assault cases increased by an additional 5 percent and the number of rapes by 5 percent, but because of the war in Iraq, the number of Army personnel on active duty increased by 20 percent.

Army officials noted that the five-year tally included reports of abuse that proved to be "unfounded" after investigation, a number said to have tripled from 48 to 157 between 1999 and 2003. Army spokeswoman Lt. Col. Diane Battaglia said she could not explain why the number of cases deemed false had risen so much.

Battaglia also noted that during the period covered by the data, the number of women on active duty in the Army increased. With more women in the Army Reserve than in the regular Army, and with more reservists on active duty, she said, "the raw number of sexual assaults being reported remains extremely low as a percentage."

In April 2006, the Pentagon released data showing that 2,374 men and women reported sexual assaults and rapes involving soldiers for 2005.

There is no such thing as a no-sex rule. There is a prohibition against fraternization as defined by the particular military service, but that's not the same thing. PFC Lyndie Englund has been charged with a variety of crimes, but not with fraternization or even adultery even though she gave birth to the child of her married squad leader.

[purple]

i am an Air Force veteran. i was raped by another Air Force service member while on active duty. no, i did not report it. i suffered depression because of it and when i went for help for this condition, instead of getting the needed help, i was medically discharged after almost 12 years of service!

i appealled to the Secretary of the Air Force, but was denied. i was told that my "condition" rendered me non-worldwide qualified and therefore unfit for active duty. yet at the same time, there was a male fighter pilot who was trying to be discharged because he had leukemia..........yes leukemia.......and the Air Force would not let him out of the service.

do you see the double-standard here?

this is the real story of what happens to women who are raped in the military.

now, 10 years later...i can't even get counseling at my local VA.......because they just "aren't set up to deal with women".....(yes, that's a direct quote)....they tried to put me in a co-ed PTSD group!!!!

the VA treats women horribly.