During consideration of the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 2670), Representative Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) offered an amendment to prohibit the Department of Defense from paying or reimbursing expenses for abortion services. It would also repeal an October 2022 Defense Department memo titled “Ensuring Access to Reproductive Health Care.” Under the policy established by this memo, the Defense Department reimburses travel expenses for service members who travel to get an abortion in another state where abortion is legal.
The House adopted Jackson’s amendment on July 13, 2023 by a vote of 221 to 213 (Roll Call 300). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because the right to life is the most fundamental, God-given, and unalienable right asserted in the Declaration of Independence and guaranteed by the Fifth and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
