Defense Department officials on Wednesday attempted to defend a personnel policy that eases service members' access to abortion by covering travel expenses and leave for medical care as senators dig in for a legislative fight.
Republicans are pushing for a vote on an amendment from Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, that would reverse the Pentagon's abortion leave policy as the Senate begins debate on the annual defense policy bill.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin argued in a memo to the Senate Armed Services Committee that after a Supreme Court ruling allowed states to ban abortion, civilian and uniformed leadership agreed that "our troops should not be disadvantaged in accessing health care due to their patriotic service" and that "failing to address this issue would harm retention."
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The memo was prepared in conjunction with a closed-door briefing defense officials held for the committee Wednesday morning about the policy. The briefing also comes as senators and Pentagon leaders work with increasing urgency to break an impasse with Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., who has single-handedly blocked confirmation of hundreds of military nominees over his objections to the abortion policy.
"We also agreed that ensuring access to high-quality health care, including non-covered reproductive health care [health care that cannot be performed or paid for by the department], is key to protecting the health and well-being of our people and to maintaining our military readiness," Austin wrote in the memo, which was released by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I.
"Finally, we agreed that protecting our troops' access to such health care required moving with urgency," the defense secretary wrote.
But the briefing appeared to do little on Wednesday to find a path forward on confirming the nominees or change any minds on an issue that is one of the most politically polarized in the country, with Democrats continuing to voice support for the policy and Republicans continuing to blast it.
"I didn't hear one good answer," said Tuberville, who shook his head "no" when asked if his mind had changed.
Reed said in a statement after the briefing that he left "even more convinced of the necessity and appropriateness of this policy, which is critical for the health of our military women, men and their families."
At issue is a policy implemented earlier this year that allows service members to take non-chargeable leave and have travel expenses paid for if they need to go far from where they are stationed in order to get reproductive health care that the Pentagon does not provide. While the policy is broader than just abortion -- it is also intended for assisted reproductive technology -- the abortion aspect has caused a political firestorm.
Last week, as part of their version of the annual defense bill, the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, House Republicans voted to reverse the Pentagon policy.
Senate Republicans are similarly pushing for a vote to reverse the abortion policy as part of the upper chamber's NDAA debate, which started this week and is expected to stretch into next week. But it's unclear if the Senate's Democratic leadership will allow a vote on the policy as part of the defense bill. Even if it got a vote, it would not have the 60 votes needed to pass most legislation in the Senate.
The Senate Armed Services Committee already rejected an amendment to reverse the policy in a party-line, 13-12 vote during its closed-door consideration of the NDAA last month.
Meanwhile, Tuberville has blocked promotions of generals and admirals since February over his opposition to the policy.
As Tuberville's hold starts to cause vacancies on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Democrats and Pentagon leaders have stepped up pressure on him to relent. Tuberville and Austin spoke Tuesday, their second conversation in as many weeks, but there have been no signs of a breakthrough.
Tuberville has rejected using the NDAA as an off-ramp to his standoff.
"I'm not looking to lose on an amendment," he said Wednesday.
The memo given to the Senate Armed Services Committee had no new information about the policy. The department was unable to answer how much the policy has been used since it was fully implemented in March, with the memo saying "tracking mechanisms are still being finalized."
On questions about the legality, the memo pointed to a legal analysis the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel released in October.
The department also used the memo to say it "strongly opposes" Ernst's bill that would reverse the policy, arguing the proposal would go further than simply returning to old policy by banning medical convalescent leave after an abortion.
"DoD must stay focused on efforts that ensure our service members remain healthy and
ready to defend the nation," the memo concluded. "Efforts taken by the department to protect the privacy of, and access to, reproductive health care ensures service members and their families are afforded time and flexibility to make private health care decisions in a manner consistent with the responsibility of the department to meet operational requirements and protect the health and safety of those in our care."
-- Rebecca Kheel can be reached at rebecca.kheel@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @reporterkheel.
