Pentagon Ends Travel Reimbursement for Abortion and Reproductive Care
The decision, which reverses a policy established after the Roe v. Wade repeal, has sparked backlash from female lawmakers.
The Pentagon has announced the end of a policy that reimbursed service members and their dependents for travel to states where abortion and other reproductive health services are legal.
The Defense Travel Management Office issued a memo on Wednesday, terminating the reimbursements effective immediately. The move effectively reverses a policy implemented in 2023 by then-Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, which allowed service members and their families to receive paid leave and travel reimbursement for seeking reproductive care in states where such procedures were restricted or unavailable due to military regulations. The policy was enacted in response to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Critics, particularly women in Congress, quickly condemned the move. The 2023 policy had been a response to the growing number of states passing restrictive abortion laws following the end of Roe, offering financial assistance for those who needed to cross state lines for procedures such as abortion or in vitro fertilization.
The decision to halt the reimbursements has already drawn praise from Republican lawmakers, including Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, who had previously protested the policy by delaying over 400 military promotions. Tuberville took to social media, expressing his approval of the Pentagon’s action, stating, “President Trump and Secretary Hegseth affirmed today what I’ve been fighting for since I got to Washington: ZERO taxpayer dollars should go toward abortions.”
The Pentagon’s memo also referenced an executive order signed by former President Donald Trump, reinforcing the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funds from being used to support abortions.
The decision has been met with strong criticism from Democrats. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts argued that the move would jeopardize the safety of U.S. troops. “Our servicemembers go wherever they need to in order to bravely serve our country — and because President Trump’s extremist Supreme Court overturned Roe, where they and their families are stationed quite literally dictates their access to critical reproductive care,” Warren stated. “This will make our troops and our nation less safe.”
Defense officials have emphasized that the number of service members and dependents who utilized the reimbursement benefit was relatively small. However, Representative Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, a former Navy helicopter pilot, expressed concern that the decision could have serious consequences for women’s health.
“This is deeply personal to me. I was stationed in states like Texas and Florida, where I wouldn’t have had healthcare access if I was serving today. Now, I have a daughter in the Navy,” Sherrill said in a statement. “We ask our servicewomen to put their lives on the line while serving across the globe to protect our country — they shouldn’t have to risk their lives while stationed in a state with severe abortion bans like Texas or Florida.”