Pentagon scraps Biden paid abortion leave policy

The Trump administration has reversed another Biden-era policy: no more paid abortion leave in the United States military, according to a new memo.

The Pentagon reversed a Biden administration…

The Trump administration has reversed another Biden-era policy: no more paid abortion leave in the United States military, according to a new memo.

The Pentagon reversed a Biden administration policy that covered the travel cost for service members and their family who traveled out-of-state to get an abortion.

The Defense Travel Management Office posted a memo announcing the policy change Wednesday, according to The Hill.

Biden Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin put the rule in place in early 2023 in response to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade the previous year.  

Opponents claimed the policy violated the Hyde Amendment, which bans the federal government from paying for elective abortions. However, the Biden administration said in a late 2022 memo that the policy “does not prohibit the use of funds to pay expenses, such as a per diem or travel expenses, that are incidental to the abortion.”   

Pro-lifers disagreed. 

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, who blocked military promotions for nearly a year to protest the policy, praised the decision. 

“President Trump and Secretary Hegseth affirmed today what I’ve been fighting for since I got to Washington: zero taxpayer dollars should go towards abortions,” he posted on X. “Under President Trump and (Defense) Secretary (Pete) Hegseth’s leadership, the Pentagon will once again be focused on lethality, not pushing a political agenda. Thank God common sense has been restored to our military under President Trump’s leadership.” 

A group of 18 Democrat Senators, led by Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, attacked the Trump administration for the policy change. 

“This decision strips away service members’ ability to access the reproductive care they need, which is nothing short of abhorrent,” Shaheen wrote in a press release. “It runs contrary to a core goal of the Department of Defense — to ensure the health and well-being of all our service members so that our force remains ready at all times to protect Americans and keep this nation safe.” 

Two years ago, Shaheen and other Democrat lawmakers introduced a bill to codify the Biden administration’s paid abortion leave policy, but it never became law. 

Sheheen also said the pro-life policy may dissuade women, who are 17% of active personnel, from joining the military. 

Hegseth, who has gone on record as opposing government funding of abortion, has vowed to reverse the military’s recruiting decline.