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 deci-
sion to eliminate the right to abortion, States across 
the country have moved swiftly to ban abortion ac-
cess, 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 au-
tonomy, 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 
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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 mili-
tary commander. 
(6) Abortion and fertility care are time sen-
sitive-procedures and access should not be delayed 
for members or military families. 
(7) When a member of the Armed Forces de-
cides to obtain abortion or fertility care, it should be 
available, affordable, private, and free from punish-
ment, reprisal, or judgment by the member’s chain 
of command. 
(8) Commanders or approval authorities have a 
duty to display objectivity, compassion, and discre-
tion when addressing all health care matters, includ-
ing reproductive health care matters, and to enforce 
existing policies against discrimination and retalia-
tion. 
(9) Members of the Armed Forces and their de-
pendents often face insurmountable barriers to ac-
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cessing fertility care. These logistical and systemic 
barriers include discriminatory restrictions on insur-
ance 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 fam-
ilies. Ensuring that members and their dependents 
can access this care is critical to promoting their re-
productive 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 in-
comes, such as junior enlisted members, and Black, 
Indigenous, and people of color, immigrants, young 
people, people with disabilities, the LGBTQI+ com-
munity, 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 par-
ticipation, equality, reproductive autonomy, and the 
right to determine a person’s own life and future. 
(12) Infertility and access to fertility care impli-
cate core human rights—including rights to health, 
to sexual and reproductive health, to make decisions 
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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 reproduc-
tive 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 Depart-
ment 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 
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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 repro-
ductive health care; and 
(2) not require the member or dependent to dis-
close 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 re-
productive 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; 
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(3) the cost of round-trip transportation be-
tween 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 de-
pendent of such a member requests one or more es-
corts 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 mem-
ber 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, tak-
ing, providing, or approving an action authorized by this 
section. 
(e) NON-COVERED REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE 
DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘non-covered repro-
ductive health care’’ includes— 
(1) abortion care other than abortion care per-
mitted under section 1093 of title 10, United States 
Code; or 
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(2) assisted reproductive technology, includ-
ing— 
(A) ovarian stimulation and egg retrieval, 
including any needed medications and proce-
dures required for retrieval, processing, and uti-
lization of an egg for assisted reproductive tech-
nology or cryopreservation; 
(B) sperm collection and processing for as-
sisted 
reproductive 
technology 
or 
cryopreservation; 
(C) intrauterine insemination; and 
(D) in vitro fertilization, including— 
(i) in vitro fertilization with fresh em-
bryo transfer; 
(ii) gamete intrafallopian transfer; 
(iii) zygote intrafollopian transfer; 
(iv) pronuclear stage tubal transfer; 
(v) tubal embryo transfer; and 
(vi) frozen embryo transfer. 
Æ 
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