Jim Ryun: “Under this amendment, abortions could be performed in military medical facilities outside of the United States for any…”

“Under this amendment, abortions could be performed in military medical facilities outside of the United States for any reason. Self-funded abortions would no longer be limited to cases in which the life of the mother is in danger or in cases of rape or incest. The gentlewoman from California (Ms. Loretta Sanchez) stated the reason for offering this amendment is that female servicemembers and dependents overseas are denied equal access to health care, effectively putting their lives and health in harm's way, and that simply is wrong. In overseas countries where safe and legal abortions are not available, servicemembers and their dependents have the option of using space-available travel for returning to the United States or traveling to another overseas country for the purpose of obtaining an abortion. Additionally, DOD doctors are still required to obey the abortion laws of the countries where they are providing services. Thus, if this amendment became law, they still could not perform abortions in these locations where abortion is restricted or is not permitted. In such cases, pregnant women would be able, as they are now, to travel to a nearby country or back to the United States on a military flight or on a space-available basis. Ask any military doctor if they joined up to perform abortions, and they will simply say they entered to save lives.”