Political Quotes

“I support the pro-choice Amendment offered by Representative Sanchez to the Defense Authorization bill. This amendment restores the right of female service members and dependents who are stationed overseas to use their personal funds to obtain abortions. Current law prohibits United States military service members and their dependents stationed overseas from obtaining an abortion in military hospitals, even if they pay for the procedure with their own funds. The defense authorization bill that we are considering today leaves this prohibition in place, while the Sanchez amendment removes this restriction. This ban threatens women's health and privacy. Women stationed overseas rely on their base hospitals for medical care and are often in areas where local health care facilities are inadequate or unavailable. This ban may compel a woman to postpone the procedure while she looks for a provider, or may force a woman facing an unplanned pregnancy to seek an illegal, unsafe abortion. Alternatively, she may have to inform her superiors about her need for an abortion and wait until there is space available on a military flight back to the United States, sacrificing her privacy and increasing her health risk with potentially risky delays. The ban is especially unjust because the government is not determining how and where American tax dollars are spent; it is dictating to women what they can and cannot do with their own money.”