Abortion ruling will worsen military personnel crisis, Pentagon says

[Judi Lynn]

State restrictions adopted since the reversal of Roe v. Wade threaten to further weaken the outlook for recruiting and retention, officials and service members warn lawmakers.

By Alex Horton and Rachel Roubein
Updated July 29, 2022 at 5:17 p.m. EDT|Published July 29, 2022 at 4:29 p.m. EDT

Pentagon officials and military personnel told lawmakers Friday that the Supreme Court’s decision ending a constitutional right to abortion has upended reproductive care for U.S. troops, warning that ensuing state-level bans are expected to worsen what is already a dire recruiting crisis.

Additionally, the flurry of restrictive abortion laws enacted in Republican-led states that house U.S. military facilities, including anticipated efforts to bar residents from traveling elsewhere for such treatment, has undermined mission readiness by creating family planning obstacles where none existed for nearly 50 years, the panel of witnesses told members of a House Armed Services subcommittee.

“We have concerns that some service members may choose to leave the military altogether because they may be stationed in states with restrictive reproductive health laws,” Gil Cisneros, the Pentagon’s chief of personnel and readiness, said in prepared remarks.

“This leads us to our concerns about recruitment,” he said, as the Defense Department faces dramatic shortfalls bringing in new troops and with women already representing a far smaller portion of the force than men. “We know this decision will have some type of impact.”

More:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/29/military-abortion-recruiting/

[Freddie]

1. Why would a woman even consider serving in the military

To defend a country that just made her a second-class citizen?

[Captain Zero]

2. Close bases in anti-woman states.

Simple. Close every fucking base in Texas to start.

[Stuckinthebush]

3. I was thinking the same thing

That would be a huge hit to the state economy. Get out of Texas and Florida.

[Aristus]

4. I'm filing this under 'feature, not a bug'.

Sexual assault being as pervasive as it is in the military, and look-the-other-way officers as common as they are, there will be service members who will be glad that a female soldier can’t get Plan B or an abortion after a sexual attack.

Just the old boy network doing what it has always done, with an assist from SCOTUS.

[Dysfunctional]

5. Not just women, but married men may also decide not to enlist.