WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), joined his colleagues in urging the Pentagon to implement policies ensuring access to contraception for service members and their dependents. In a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the Senators call on DOD to comply with the FY 2016 NDAA by revising its pre-deployment form to allow service members to indicate if they would like to receive contraception counseling on the full range of contraceptive methods. The Senators also urge the DOD to implement the provisions included in the FY 2016 and FY 2017 NDAAs to expand access to contraception for service members.

“We write to urge the Department of Defense (DoD) to take additional action to ensure service members and their dependents can access their contraceptive of choice,” the Senators wrote. “In 2022, 18.3 percent of active duty service women reported that they were unable to access their preferred birth control method from the Military Health Service. As Congress continues to seek to address this issue, including by working to pass the Access to Contraception for Service Members and Dependents Act, we respectfully request an update on the DoD’s efforts to implement policies previously mandated by Congress that would expand access to contraception for service members.”

The Senators continued, “Expanding access to contraception is critical to meeting the needs of service members, as well as recruiting and retaining members of our Armed Forces. We look forward to learning more about the barriers preventing the Department from implementing provisions mandated by Congress to protect and expand service members’ access to contraception and contraceptive counseling.”

Joining King on the letter are U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Jack Reed (D-RI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Maize Hirono (D-HI), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), and Gary Peters (D-MI).

Senator King is a strong supporter of a woman’s right to reproductive health care. He opposed the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade calling it “a dangerous, blatantly political ruling that will rob millions of women the fundamental right to make decisions about their own health, safety, and lives.” Prior to the Supreme Court’s ruling, King voted to advance the Women’s Health Protection Act, legislation which would codify the longstanding precedent of Roe v. Wade into federal law and protect the right to these vital healthcare decisions. Last spring, he sent a letter to the Secretary of Defense highlighting the wide-ranging implications of the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, and the challenges that restrictive abortion laws pose to servicemember health and finances, military readiness, recruitment and retention. He also joined bipartisan legislation to ensure military families receive the same access to quality reproductive health care as most Americans and cosponsored a bill to protect access to contraception. Most recently, Senator King joined the Right to IVF Act which would guarantee access to Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), most frequently used via IVF.

The full letter can be found here and below.

+++

Dear Secretary Austin, 

We write to urge the Department of Defense (DoD) to take additional action to ensure service members and their dependents can access their contraceptive of choice. In 2022, 18.3 percent of active duty service women reported that they were unable to access their preferred birth control method from the Military Health Service. As Congress continues to seek to address this issue, including by working to pass the Access to Contraception for Service Members and Dependents Act, we respectfully request an update on the DoD’s efforts to implement policies previously mandated by Congress that would expand access to contraception for service members. 

Section 718 of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) required the DoD to develop a comprehensive policy to ensure access to contraceptive counseling for service members. Specifically, Congress mandated the Department provide access to contraception counseling during service members’ health care visits, such as annual physical exams as well as before and during deployment. In addition, the NDAA provision required the Department to develop standards to make contraception available to deployed service members. We appreciate that these requirements were included in the Defense Health Agency’s Procedural Instruction on May 13, 2019, which outlined the Department’s intent to expand contraception access to service members. We remain concerned, however, that the Procedural Instruction has not been implemented to its full effect given that one in five service women remain unable to access their preferred method of contraception. 

Congress again mandated that the DoD act to address contraception parity for service members by requiring the Department to conduct a survey on active-duty service women’s experiences with family planning services and counseling in the FY 2017 NDAA. According the RAND Corporation’s Women’s Reproductive Health Survey, published in 2022, among active-duty service women who deployed between 2020 and 2022 only 18.1 percent received contraceptive counseling from the Military Health Service prior to their deployment. Once again, this low percentage contradicts Congress’ intent to expand access to contraception services and counseling. The low rate of service women who received contraceptive counseling is particularly concerning given that on average, the rate of unintended pregnancy in the military is six percent, higher than the civilian rate of unintended pregnancy. 

We urge the Department to comply with the FY 2016 NDAA and its Procedural Instruction by immediately revising its pre-deployment form to allow service members to indicate if they would like to receive contraception counseling and include information on the full range of contraceptive methods. This and additional efforts by the DoD are needed to ensure full implementation of the provisions included in the FY 2016 and FY 2017 NDAAs to expand access to contraception for service members, including the more than 17 percent of women who make up the active-duty force. Expanding access to contraception is critical to meeting the needs of service members, as well as recruiting and retaining members of our Armed Forces. 

We look forward to learning more about the barriers preventing the Department from implementing provisions mandated by Congress to protect and expand service members’ access to contraception and contraceptive counseling. 

Thank you for your continued attention to this important issue.

Sincerely,

###