Coalition Letter to the U.S. House of Representatives In Support of Rep. Davis' Amendment to the FY'06 National Defense Authorization Act

U.S. House of Representatives
Washington DC, 20515

Dear Representative:

As members of the public-health community as well as organizations concerned about women's health, we urge you to support Rep. Susan Davis' amendment to the FY'06 National Defense Authorization Act. The Davis amendment would ensure that women stationed overseas are not deprived of the constitutional right to choose that is guaranteed at home.

As you know, current law limits the range of reproductive-health services provided to servicewomen and military dependents serving overseas, even when they pay for these services with their own money. The Davis amendment does not require the Department of Defense to pay for abortion services; it would simply repeal the current ban on privately funded abortion care at overseas U.S. military facilities.

Women serving in the military overseas need to be able to depend on their base hospitals for medical care, especially when stationed in areas where local health care facilities are inadequate. The current ban may cause a woman seeking abortion services to delay the procedure while she looks for a safe provider, or may force a woman to seek an illegal, unsafe procedure locally.

We strongly believe that there is no compelling reason to prevent women serving in our armed forces overseas from using their own funds to receive procedures legally available in hospitals located in the United States. The current policy of limiting health-care choices based on duty station potentially threatens the health of military women and needlessly limits the medical options available to military caregivers.

Please continue to support our military women by supporting the Davis amendment to the defense authorization bill.

Thank you.

American Association of University Women
American Civil Liberties Union
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
American Medical Women's Association
Americans for Democratic Action
Catholics for a Free Choice
Center for Reproductive Rights
Central Conference of American Rabbis
CommonWell Institute International, Inc.
Feminist Majority
Human Rights Campaign
Jewish Reconstructionist Federation
Legal Momentum (The new name of NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund)
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
NARAL Pro-Choice America
National Abortion Federation
National Council of Jewish Women
National Council of Women's Organizations
National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
National Organization for Women
National Partnership for Women & Families
National Women's Law Center
People For the American Way
Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Population Connection
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
Reproductive Health Technologies Project
Republican Majority for Choice
The Alan Guttmacher Institute
The Miles Foundation, Inc.
The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS)
Union for Reform Judaism
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
Women of Reform Judaism