Elle Magazine covered the challenges faced by female active-duty service members stationed at large military bases in states with stringent abortion restrictions, highlighting the lack of control they have over where they are stationed, and the near-impossibility of accessing reproductive health care services.
When a lawsuit seeking to overturn the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of mifepristone reached the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year, some military experts began to worry how a potential ban on the medication would further restrict reproductive health access for women in the military. As a result, Vet Voice Foundation, which empowers veterans to become policy advocates, began reaching out to former military officials and national security leaders to find out whether abortion should be considered a matter of national security.
In January, KHF filed an amicus brief at the Supreme Court in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine on behalf of the foundation and eleven former military officials and civilian national security leaders. The brief, filed in support of Petitioners the FDA and Danco Laboratories, L.L.C., urged the Court to consider how restricting access to mifepristone would negatively impact military readiness and national security. Amici included three former secretaries of U.S. military branches, the first female 3-Star General in the Army, leaders responsible for personnel and readiness, and military healthcare providers.
The KHF team included Carmen Iguina Gonzalez, Kate Epstein, and Kelsey Fraser.
Read “Is Abortion a Matter of National Security?” here.