(LifeSiteNews) — The United States Coast Guard will be offering paid leave and travel expenses for service members to obtain abortions, in the latest instance of the Biden administration promoting abortion “access” through every means at its disposal and further infusing the military with left-wing values and ideology.
CatholicVote first identified the Coast Guard’s March 1 bulletin on the subject, which confirms that members “may be granted an administrative absence from their normal duty station to receive, or to accompany a dual-military spouse or a dependent who receives, non-covered reproductive health care without loss of pay or earned leave,” including travel reimbursements if necessary.
“Non-covered reproductive health care” includes “abortion, either medical or surgical, that is not a covered abortion.” Covered abortions include abortions for rape, incest, or medical emergencies, meaning that the latest bulletin is talking about paying to facilitate elective abortions.
The policy also covers “ovarian stimulation and egg retrieval,” ‘sperm collection and processing for ART [Assisted Reproductive Technology] or cryopreservation,” “Intrauterine insemination,” and “In vitro fertilization.”
“By federal statute, the Department of Defense is barred from providing coverage for abortion care except when a pregnant woman’s life is endangered,” CatholicVote notes. “The ban provides no exception for cases of rape and incest.” However, since 2003 the Coast Guard has operated not under the Defense Department but under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
“This is the Biden administration manipulating federal laws in their efforts to disregard state laws after the Dobbs decision,” said CatholicVote Director of Government Affairs Tom McClusky. “It’s a slippery slope writ large, and I hope Congress will address it.”
It has been estimated that between 2,600 and 4,100 U.S. servicewomen seek abortions every year, and that there were roughly 13,860 unintended pregnancies among servicewomen in 2017, highlighting one of the complications of disregarding sex differences in military roles and placement.
The news about the Coast Guard follows word that the Department of Defense will also give paid leave and travel expenses for abortions and fertility treatments.
The steady rise of “woke” ideology within the military, which has persisted and grown since the Clinton years despite the Republican presidencies of George W. Bush and Donald Trump, has been intensified by pro-abortion President Joe Biden. Many have expressed concern that this emphasis on liberals’ domestic political priorities has negatively impacted recruiting goals, soldier morale, and military leadership’s capability to defend America from future threats that may arise.