Duckworth Blasts Republican Effort to Strip Servicemembers of Their Reproductive Rights in Upcoming NDAA

Senator Tammy Duckworth | Senator Tammy Duckworth Official Website (https://www.duckworth.senate.gov)

By Prairie State Wire Report

Jul 4, 2023

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth—member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and who served in the Reserve Forces for 23 years—condemned Republican efforts to overturn an existing Department of Defense policy that allows servicemembers to seek the care they need and protects their reproductive rights. On the Senate floor, Duckworth delivered an impassioned speech underscoring how this Republican endeavor would hurt military readiness and women servicemembers while also jeopardizing the future recruitment and retention efforts of our Armed Forces. This extreme Republican effort comes a few days before the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade. Video of the Senator’s remarks can be found here.

Key quotes:

“When, exactly, was the moment that military women like me no longer had the right to bodily autonomy? Our nation was just fine with me using my body as I saw fit when I chose to use it to fight wars on its behalf.”
“To me, this Republican amendment effectively punishes women for their willingness to put on the uniform. The policy is both morally corrupt and militarily short-sighted, as how could it not impact the future recruitment and retention of our Armed Forces if women understand that if they wear our nation’s colors… their fundamental rights may remain forever out of reach?”
“To my colleagues on the other side of the aisle: If you also care about the strength of our military… if you also care about defending the freedoms that have defined America since the first drop of ink was spilled on our Constitution… then you will vote against this amendment.”

Duckworth’s full remarks as prepared below:

I’ve come to the floor today with a simple question:
When, exactly, was the moment that military women like me no longer had the right to bodily autonomy?
Our nation was just fine with me using my body as I saw fit when I chose to use it to fight wars on its behalf.
It was alright with me using it as I wished when I decided to risk every drop of blood in it flying a Black Hawk into combat.
It was even okay with me losing parts of it… leaving parts of it strewn across a battlefield in Iraq… in defense of this great nation.
In fact, people thanked me for my service—for making that incredibly personal choice about my own being… my own life.
I know the same is true for many of the other female servicemembers and Veterans who have made similar decisions.
So my question is, precisely when do the folks pushing anti-choice policies think that we American women no longer have that basic human right to make our own decisions about our own health?
I ask because over the past year since the Supreme Court announced its Dobbs ruling, we have faced an onslaught of anti-woman, anti-choice bills that would effectively turn women into second-class citizens…
Rendering them incapable of adjudicating matters related to their own bodies…
Transforming them from people with autonomy to vessels subject to the political whims of lawmakers whose beliefs tend more toward insurrectionist than feminist…
Lawmakers who think “making America great again” equates to sapping away women’s rights again.
This week is no exception. But it is exceptional.
Because this week, my colleagues across the aisle, led by Senator Ernst, are trying to hold our annual defense bill negotiations hostage in an attempt to force through an extremist amendment that would overturn existing DOD policy…
An amendment that would keep troops and their families who are stationed at military bases in anti-choice states from getting the resources they need to travel elsewhere to get basic reproductive care.
You know, our servicemembers often move every two or three years.
They don’t get to choose where they’re stationed: They receive orders to be somewhere. Then they pack up their rucksacks and go. And I’ve seen estimates that about 40 percent are assigned to bases in states that now have draconian reproductive rights laws.
Now, if Senator Ernst’s amendment to the NDAA becomes law, thousands of military women would be stripped of their right to bodily autonomy just because they’ve chosen to serve their country.
Think about how shameful that is.
Think about how disgraceful it is that so many of the same so-called leaders who applaud these women for choosing to put themselves in harm’s way overseas are trying to wrest control over their bodies from them when they’re back on U.S. soil.
And think about how astounding it is that the folks backing this kind of policy seem ignorant to the hypocrisy laden in the idea that the greatest democracy in the world…
A nation borne out of a fight against governmental overreach and that takes pride in self-determination would strip away the right to personal freedom from the very citizens who’ve sworn an oath to protect others’ rights… to keep others free.
When I fought in Iraq, it was so early on in the war that full logistics weren’t yet set up.
We were still living in tents, had no shower facilities and no personal hygiene facilities other than the wet wipes we’d get in care packages.
So when it came time for me to deploy, Army doctors issued me birth control patches so I could control my menstrual cycle, since for the first two months that I was set to be downrange, there would be no female sanitary support.
In other words, because I wouldn’t be able to get tampons, pads or the like for those early days yet still needed to fly my missions, it advantaged the military for me to control my reproductive cycle.
I was happy to do it, because it was for the good of the Army, the good of the mission and thus the good of the nation.
But looking back, especially after this week, my takeaway is that our country was just fine with me seeking reproductive care when it suited them—but only when it suited them.
Because today, we live in an America whose representatives waver even on the basic question of whether women should have access to the kind of care they readily supplied me when it fit their needs.
To me, this Republican amendment effectively punishes women for their willingness to put on the uniform.
The policy is both morally corrupt and militarily short-sighted, as how could it not impact the future recruitment and retention of our Armed Forces if women understand that if they wear our nation’s colors…
That if they follow orders and are stationed at whatever base they’re told they’re needed at their fundamental rights may remain forever out of reach?
Yes. We’re talking about abortions here, certainly.
But this amendment my colleagues are so focused on passing also impacts a range of other basic, lifesaving, sometimes even life-creating reproductive care…
Including fertility treatments, both for those who’ve worn the uniform and for the partners of those who serve.
Or the urgent medical services needed in the tragic event they miscarry a child they do want.
So when I hear my colleagues on the other side of the aisle champion this policy, what I hear them say is that they either don’t understand or don’t care about the very real, severe effects that servicemembers and dependents could face if they can’t access reproductive care.
What I hear them say is that they want to force female servicemembers to give birth whether they want to or not… whether they are ready or not…
Regardless of the burden… the cost… the implications for their careers and, more importantly, their lives.
What I hear them say is that they don’t believe that the readiness of women servicemembers affects our military’s readiness…
That they don’t think recruiting women is important for the future of our military…
That they don’t care about the contributions that women make to our Armed Forces…
That they don’t value the service of women, point blank.
And ultimately, sadly, that means they don’t care about solving our military’s recruiting challenges as much as they do about getting on the good side of the anti-choice billionaires who bankroll their campaigns.
That is offensive and hypocritical.
It’s misogynistic and sadistic.
Craven and cowardly.
Self-interested, yet self-defeating.
In other words, it’s a perfect snapshot of today’s GOP.
Look, we Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee have used every negotiation tactic under the sun to try to stop our Republican colleagues from crashing down the entire defense bill negotiations with this one poison pill.
Because let me be clear: We CANNOT pass a defense funding bill if this amendment is hidden deep in its fine print.
We’ve even offered to hold a separate vote on this same exact policy as a standalone bill—a solution that would both protect this week’s larger NDAA process while also letting the rest of the Senate have a say on this single piece of legislation.
But Republicans have decried this offer, calling it a ploy. It’s not a ploy—we’re giving them the vote they say they want!
They don’t want a solution. They don’t want fairness.
They just want to scream and shout.
They want to throw a fit on the playground.
They want to show off to the most fringe parts of their base… knowing that in a few days, they’ll somehow contort reality and blame Democrats even when they’re well aware that their own political agenda is at fault for Congress failing to pass this critical national defense legislation.
So just as I made my own decision about my own body when I signed up to fly Black Hawks in Iraq, I’m making the choice today to use my voice to say “enough.”
We must not allow Republicans to score political points by restricting the personal freedom of the very people who’ve dedicated their lives to defending that most fundamental, most American ideal.
Our female servicemembers, Veterans and military families deserve access to healthcare, regardless of what part of the country they happen to be stationed in.
They deserve to have full control over their bodies here at home, just as they did when they were carrying rucksacks and M4s on our behalf overseas.
To my colleagues on the other side of the aisle:
If you also care about the strength of our military… if you also care about defending the freedoms that have defined America since the first drop of ink was spilled on our Constitution… then you will vote against this amendment.
Please, do not abandon the women who have done so much to keep our Union safe.
Please, do not repay our heroes for their sacrifices by telling them what they can and cannot do with the bodies they’ve put at risk time and again to protect our country.
And please, as you sit at your fancy desks under this hallowed, historic dome, ask yourself if you’re so desperate for a pat on the back from FOX News that you’d be willing to vote to strip away the rights these women have spent their lives protecting.
I certainly could not live with that decision… with that vote. I hope the same is true for each of you.