Features > June 14, 2007

Democrats Shy Away From Emergency Contraception

Did the Democrats leave military servicewomen without EC for political reasons?

By Beccah Golubock Watson

Plan B: Wouldn't it be nice if military servicewomen could have one?

On Wednesday, May 16, advocates were optimistic that legislation requiring emergency contraception to be stocked on all military bases would pass in the House. “We had the votes on Wednesday night. Things were looking good,” says Monica Castellanos, press secretary for Rep. Michael Michaud (D-Maine), one of the lead co-sponsors of the amendment that was scheduled for a vote the next day. But then, something mysterious happened.

For reasons that remain unclear, Michaud withdrew the legislation the next morning. According to Castellanos, it was purely a logistical snafu: “Key supporters had to be in their districts.” But sources close to the issue tell a different story: The legislation, an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, with bipartisan support, was dropped by a Democratic leadership unwilling to go to bat for pro-choice issues. Despite Michaud’s confidence that the votes were there, Democratic leadership wasn’t so sure, and they didn’t want to hang around long enough to find out. The legislation might not have sunk, but they jumped ship anyway.

Emergency contraception, also known as Plan B or the morning-after pill, is available over-the-counter in all 50 states, but women in the U.S. military cannot count on accessing the medication on military bases. A 2003 survey financed by the Defense Department found that almost a third of military women reported being the victim of rape or attempted rape during their tenure in the military. Yet in return for their service, servicewomen are denied access to basic health care. “The situation is unconscionable,” says Vicki Saporta, president of the National Abortion Federation. “If you are a military woman in Iraq, and you are raped, it is this country’s obligation to make sure you have access to emergency contraception.”

Apparently, the Department of Defense agrees. In April 2002, it added emergency contraception to its Basic Care Formulary, a list of 214 medications required to be stocked at all military treatment facilities. (The list includes Levitra, a medication that treats erectile dysfuction.) But one month later, the medication was quietly removed in direct response to pressure from the Bush administration. “The Defense Department agreed that it should be available—certainly, this is an issue we should have been able to win,” Saporta says.

For the past three congressional sessions, Michaud has worked to bring the medication back onto the Formulary. Michaud believes access to emergency contraception is a “major public health issue,” a “fair, common-sense step that everyone should be able to agree on.” After all of his work, it appeared that this was the legislation’s shining moment. “We’ve introduced three bills so far for emergency contraception, but in this Congress, it looked most probable that we would [succeed],” Castellanos says. Reproductive rights advocates say that the amendment presented a critical opportunity for Democrats to break from Congress’ conservative stance on choice. “This was the moment that Congress could signal that [they] were going to do business differently,” says Kirsten Moore, president of Reproductive Health Technologies Project.

Many women in the military rely on military treatment facilities for all of their health needs, and don’t always have access to basic care such as testing for pregnancy and STIs. Furthermore, they are only allowed to have abortions if they are the victims of sexual assault and are willing to report the assault.

In 2004 testimony to the Congressional Women’s Caucus, servicewomen who were sexually assaulted reported that they received faulty follow-up care after an abortion. Laurie (the women’s full names were not given), a sergeant in the Army returning from Afghanistan, testified that after her sexual assault by a coalition soldier, she was given “a lot of antibiotics, rather than emergency contraception” or testing for STDs or HIV. Beth, a major in the Army Reserves, served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and was sexually assaulted by a noncommissioned officer. She testified that she was given “a lot of [birth control] pills to take” instead of emergency contraception.

What’s also frustrating is that Congress has been paying more attention to the need to provide military men and women with better health care. The new budget for the Veterans Affairs Administration includes the largest single increase in veterans’ health care funding in history. On May 23, the House passed a group of bills to improve the care and screening processes of potential brain injuries for veterans, extend health care for combat veterans and improve outreach programs. Many of the female veterans who benefit from these new programs, however, will still suffer from a lack of reproductive health care while in the service.

The amendment’s disappearance is an ill wind. “You look at the vote, or the lack of the vote, and it sends a chill down the spines of reproductive rights advocates,” Moore says. “These votes can be controversial. We understand that there can be political heat. But the more we run away from these votes, the more momentum we give to our opposition.”

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• Reader Comments

  “almost a third of military women reported being the victim of rape or attempted rape during their tenure in the military.”

  This is an argument for Plan B? Really? Maybe we should focus on rape prevention. . .  (of course, the statistic above may very well be hugely exaggerated).

  “they [military women] are only allowed to have abortions if they are the victims of sexual assault and are willing to report the assault.”

  This is an apparently ridiculous claim. Is this somehow officially codified? Even if it is, how could it possibly be enforced? (It would be much easier to believe that the military would not perform the abortions, rather than out and out prohibit them.

  Of course, it would be quite easy for women to buy and bring emergency contraceptives (and pregnancy tests/whatever) if they think ahead. But i see no reason they should not be able to purchase such supplies from the base pharmacies.

  Posted by wolf on Jun 14, 2007 at 8:36 AM

  “[Women in the military] are only allowed to have abortions if they are the victims of sexual assault and are willing to report the assault.”

  I had no idea this was true.  How can the standards of care and access be so drastically different for civilians and members of the service?  At a base level, it’s the same issue as not stocking EC; it’s restricting access to a dependent population (service members depend on the military to provide for their needs) in such a way that it enforces a particular set of values.  It’s grossly unjust. 

  Wolf, your notion that “of course, it would be quite easy for women to buy and bring emergency contraceptives (and pregnancy tests/whatever) if they think ahead” is not only insulting, but misses the point entirely.  The point is that the military provides medical care (as well as all other basic necessities) to the people who enroll.  Reproductive care is part of basic medical care, and refusing to provide it is putting political bickering ahead of human rights. 

  Just as service members ought not need to bring their own food, they ought not need to bring their own medications - including EC.

  Posted by karpydiem on Jun 14, 2007 at 1:23 PM

  “Beth, a major in the Army Reserves, served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and was sexually assaulted by a noncommissioned officer. She testified that she was given “a lot of [birth control] pills to take” instead of emergency contraception.”

  To be fair, “a lot of birth control pills” is the exact same thing as EC: EC is just a large dose of hormones meant to prevent. So if regular birth control is available on base, it’s not like there is no recourse. It still seems like women should have access to it though.

  I do find it alarming that there is Levitra available, which seems to encourage male sexual activity, but that to get an abortion a woman has to come forward with a sexual assault charge, which appears to punish female sexual activity.

  Posted by brenda on Jun 14, 2007 at 4:16 PM

  Hi, y’all!

  I’ve been away for a while(summer school, Proust )

  Brenda,

  Why find sexist double standards alarming? They are de rigeur in our culture. It doesn’t surprise me one bit that this kind of stupidity exists.

  This is what happens when puritanical ignoramuses (or is it ignorami?) are allowed to get into power.

  Frankly, the prospect of having women in combat zones or in situations of prolonged confinement is problematic at best. I honestly don’t see why those women in combat are not simply given birth control pills from the outset, if not to prevent pregnancy ,then at least to curtail the menstrual cycle while in the combat zone?

  Oh, that’s right! Puritanical ignoramuses! I forgot!

  I swear, this administration couldn’t make a cup of coffee without ideology getting in the way.

  I’m also mystified that the Democrats are not standing up and loudly pointing out the flaws and mistakes of this administration. it doesn’t get any easier than this bunch of sorry screw-ups!

  Democratic politicians,

  Sniping a dairy cow is easy. You do, however, have to point the gun at the cow to hit it. It won’t walk up to the barrel and suck the bullet out. After eight years of BU**SH**, you should have a litany prepared for the ‘08 debates.

  Posted by Aunty Rightwing on Jun 17, 2007 at 9:39 PM

  Oh, I almost forgot.

  Ta-Ta !
  ( the phone rang.)

  Posted by Aunty Rightwing on Jun 17, 2007 at 9:49 PM

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Also by Beccah Golubock Watson

• Democrats Shy Away From Emergency Contraception
  Did the Democrats leave military servicewomen without EC for political reasons?

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