Justice for Women Veterans Act
Bill: H.R.2385 | Sponsor: Rep. Brownley, Julia (D-CA)
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Justice for Women Veterans Act
This bill requires the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study regarding women involuntarily separated or discharged from the Armed Forces due to pregnancy or parenthood during the period of 1951-1976.

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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Justice for Women Veterans Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) In June 1948, Congress enacted the Women's Armed 
        Services Integration Act of 1948, which formally authorized the 
        appointment and enlistment 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 actualities was 
        Executive Order 10240, signed by President 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 Executive order by 
        systematically discharging any woman in the Armed Forces who 
        became pregnant, regardless of whether the pregnancy was 
        planned, unplanned, 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 request 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 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 discharge pregnant members caused 
        some such members to seek an unsafe or inaccessible abortion, 
        which was not legal at the time, or to put their children 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 Stephanie 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 Circuit ruled in 
        Stephanie Crawford's favor in 1976 and found that Executive 
        Order 10240 and any regulations relating to the Armed Forces 
        that made separation or discharge mandatory due to pregnancy 
        were unconstitutional.
            (11) By 1976, all regulations that permitted involuntary 
        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 hardships, today's 
        Armed Forces provides various lengths of paid family leave for 
        mothers and fathers. for both birth and adoption of children.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress 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 expresses deep remorse 
for the women who patriotically served in the Armed Forces, but were 
forced, by official United States policy, to endure unnecessary and 
discriminatory actions, including the violation of their constitutional 
right to due process of law, simply because they became pregnant or 
became a parent while a member of the Armed Forces.

SEC. 4. GAO STUDY OF WOMEN INVOLUNTARILY SEPARATED 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 separated or discharged from the Armed 
Forces due to pregnancy 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 separations;
            (3) discrepancies in uniformity of such discharges 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.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 30 days after completing the study 
under subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall submit to Congress 
a report containing the results of that study.
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