I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7383 
To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study 
regarding women involuntarily separated or discharged from the Armed 
Forces due to pregnancy or parenthood, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 26, 2020 
Ms. BROWNLEY of California introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee 
on Veterans’ Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to 
conduct a study regarding women involuntarily separated 
or discharged from the Armed Forces due to pregnancy 
or parenthood, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) In June 1948, Congress enacted the Wom-
en’s Armed Services Integration Act of 1948, which 
formally authorized the appointment and enlistment 
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of women in the regular components of the Armed 
Forces. 
(2) With the expansion of the Armed Forces to 
include women, the possibility arose for the first 
time that members of the regular components of the 
Armed Forces could become pregnant. 
(3) The response to such possibilities and actu-
alities was Executive Order 10240, signed by Presi-
dent Harry S. Truman in 1951, which granted the 
Armed Forces the authority to involuntarily separate 
or discharge a woman if she became pregnant, gave 
birth to a child, or became a parent by adoption or 
a stepparent. 
(4) The Armed Forces responded to the Execu-
tive order by systematically discharging any woman 
in the Armed Forces who became pregnant, regard-
less of whether the pregnancy was planned, un-
planned, or the result of sexual abuse. 
(5) Although the Armed Forces were required 
to offer women who were involuntarily separated or 
discharged due to pregnancy the opportunity to re-
quest retention in the military, many such women 
were not offered such opportunity. 
(6) The Armed Forces did not provide required 
separation benefits, counseling, or assistance to the 
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members of the Armed Forces who were separated 
or discharged due to pregnancy. 
(7) Thousands of members of the Armed 
Forces were involuntarily separated or discharged 
from the Armed Forces as a result of pregnancy. 
(8) There are reports that the practice of the 
Armed Forces to systematically separate or dis-
charge pregnant members caused some such mem-
bers to seek an unsafe or inaccessible abortion, 
which was not legal at the time, or to put their chil-
dren up for adoption, and that, in some cases, some 
women died by suicide following their involuntary 
separation or discharge from the Armed Forces. 
(9) Such involuntary separation or discharge 
from the Armed Forces on the basis of pregnancy 
was challenged in Federal district court by Steph-
anie Crawford in 1975, whose legal argument stated 
that this practice violated her constitutional right to 
due process of law. 
(10) The Court of Appeals for the Second Cir-
cuit ruled in Stephanie Crawford’s favor in 1976 
and found that Executive Order 10240 and any reg-
ulations relating to the Armed Forces that made 
separation or discharge mandatory due to pregnancy 
were unconstitutional. 
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(11) By 1976, all regulations that permitted in-
voluntary separation or discharge of a member of 
the Armed Forces because of pregnancy or any form 
of parenthood were rescinded. 
(12) Today, women comprise 17 percent of the 
Armed Forces, and many are parents, including 12 
percent of whom are single parents. 
(13) While military parents face many hard-
ships, today’s Armed Forces provides various lengths 
of paid family leave for mothers and fathers, for 
both birth and adoption of children. 
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that women who served in the Armed Forces before 
February 23, 1976, should not have been involuntarily 
separated or discharged due to pregnancy or parenthood. 
(b) EXPRESSION OF REMORSE.—Congress hereby ex-
presses deep remorse for the women who patriotically 
served in the Armed Forces, but were forced, by official 
United States policy, to endure unnecessary and discrimi-
natory actions, including the violation of their constitu-
tional right to due process of law, simply because they be-
came pregnant or became a parent while a member of the 
Armed Forces. 
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SEC. 3. GAO STUDY OF WOMEN INVOLUNTARILY SEPA-
RATED OR DISCHARGED DUE TO PREGNANCY 
OR PARENTHOOD. 
(a) STUDY REQUIRED.—Not later than September 
30, 2021, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall conduct a study regarding women involuntarily sepa-
rated or discharged from the Armed Forces due to preg-
nancy or parenthood during the period of 1951 through 
1976. The study shall identify— 
(1) the number of such women, disaggregated 
by— 
(A) Armed Force; 
(B) grade; 
(C) race; and 
(D) ethnicity; 
(2) the characters of such discharges or separa-
tions; 
(3) discrepancies in uniformity of such dis-
charges or separations; 
(4) how such discharges or separations affected 
access of such women to health care and benefits 
through the Department of Veterans Affairs; and 
(5) recommendations for improving access of 
such women to resources through the Department of 
Veterans Affairs. 
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(b) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days after com-
pleting the study under subsection (a), the Comptroller 
General shall submit to Congress a report containing the 
results of that study. 
Æ 
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