The Supreme Court decision ending a constitutional right to an abortion puts immediate pressure on the Pentagon, which has struggled to clarify how it will address the health-care expectations of female troops, and female spouses of troops.
It’s an issue top Pentagon officials — including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin — have been concerned about ever since a draft opinion of the court’s ruling leaked earlier this year.
“The Department is examining this decision closely and evaluating our policies to ensure we continue to provide seamless access to reproductive health care as permitted by federal law,” Austin said in a statement Friday. “Nothing is more important to me or to this Department than the health and well-being of our service members, the civilian workforce and DOD families.”
