Protecting Service Members and Military Families’ Access to Reproductive Care Act of 2023

Subjects: Armed Forces and National Security


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1610 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1610

  To authorize administrative absences and travel and transportation 
    allowances for members of the Armed Forces to travel to obtain 
                       reproductive health care.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 16, 2023

 Mrs. Shaheen (for herself, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Fetterman, 
 Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. King, Mr. Hickenlooper, Mr. Cardin, Ms. Warren, 
  Ms. Baldwin, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Welch, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Sanders, Mr. 
Carper, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Booker, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Kelly, Ms. Klobuchar, 
   Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Brown, Ms. Rosen, Mr. Markey, Mr. Durbin, Ms. 
   Smith, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Heinrich, Ms. Cantwell, and Ms. Cortez 
Masto) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 
                   to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To authorize administrative absences and travel and transportation 
    allowances for members of the Armed Forces to travel to obtain 
                       reproductive health care.

    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 ``Protecting Service Members and 
Military Families' Access to Reproductive Care Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE ABSENCES AND TRAVEL AND 
              TRANSPORTATION ALLOWANCES FOR REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE.

    (a) Leaves of Absence.--
            (1) In general.--Chapter 40 of title 10, United States 
        Code, is amended by inserting after section 708 the following 
        new section:
``Sec. 708a. Reproductive health administrative absence
    ``(a) In General.--Under such regulations as the Secretary of 
Defense may prescribe, the Secretary shall grant an administrative 
absence to a member of the Armed Forces who requests such an absence--
            ``(1) to receive non-covered reproductive health care; or
            ``(2) to accompany a spouse or other dependent who receives 
        non-covered reproductive health care.
    ``(b) Duration.--An administrative absence granted under subsection 
(a) pursuant to a request made under that subsection may extend for a 
period of not more than 21 days for each such request.
    ``(c) Requirements for Regulations.--The regulations prescribed 
under subsection (a) shall provide that--
            ``(1) no additional requirement, including consultations 
        with a chaplain, medical testing, or any other form of 
        counseling, may be imposed on a member requesting an 
        administrative absence under subsection (a) by the Secretary or 
        the commander or other approval authority of the member; and
            ``(2) the Secretary and the commander or other approval 
        authority of a member shall prioritize the privacy of the 
        member (and the spouse or other dependent of the member, if 
        applicable), consistent with applicable statutes and 
        regulations governing protected medical information.
    ``(d) Non-Covered Reproductive Health Care Defined.--In this 
section, the term `non-covered reproductive health care' means 
reproductive health care not authorized to be performed at a medical 
treatment facility or other facility of the Department of Defense 
consistent with Federal law, including--
            ``(1) an abortion; 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.''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
        beginning of chapter 40 of such title is amended by inserting 
        after the item relating to section 708 the following new item:

``708a. Reproductive health administrative absence.''.
    (b) Authorization of Travel and Transportation Allowances.--Section 
452(b) of title 37, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 
the following new paragraph:
            ``(24) Travel by a member or a dependent to receive non-
        covered reproductive health care (as defined in section 708a(d) 
        of title 10), including an abortion and assisted reproductive 
        technology.''.
    (c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section or an amendment 
made by this section may be construed to restrict or deprive a member 
of the Armed Forces from accessing or being granted convalescent leave 
consistent with section 701 of title 10, United States Code.
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