from a state that honors a woman's right to make her own decisions, and i wasn't forced to carry through with the pregnancy against my will. i have put my uniform on for the past 24.5 years with pride and i am honored to be able to continue wearing it. my family and i continue to make sacrifices because we believe in what this nation stands for. i believe that for everyone in this chamber, the health and well-being of my fellow service members and their families should be a top priority. my husband and i would not have been able to continue our military careers had we been forced to carry that pregnancy, and as an unwed mother of two, geographically separated for my partner and family, i would not be where i am today. our family, the one at home and in uniform, has benefited because i was able to travel to a state that record highs that family building decisions were

ours alone to make. i think you for the opportunity to share my story. >> thank you. your testimony is extraordinary. you are precisely who we want to serve in the military. to have anyone snuff out that opportunity for a lack of providing services to our service members is repelling to me. thank you for your testimony. teresa is an active duty servicemember and is joining us by a zoom. >> good morning chairwoman, ranking member and distinguished members of the sub committee. it is an honor to appear before you today to share my personal experience. i am a major in the united states air force. my comments today are my personal story and do not reflect the views of the department of defense,

department of the air force, united states government or my unit. i entered the air force as an active duty enlisted member in 2002. two weeks ago, i reached 20 years of service and i was selected for promotion to lt. col.. i'm extremely proud of my military service, i am thankful for the opportunities it has provided through my career. growing up in a lower income family in pennsylvania, the military represented an economic step up in career path. i joined the air force to see the world, serve my country and complete my education. i am proud i accomplish these goals and so much more. when i heard the news that roe v. wade had been overturned, my heart sank. it was then i decided to share my abortion story with others for the very first time. 19 years ago, i discovered i was pregnant at age 21. i was terrified.

at the time, i was newly stationed at an air force base in missouri is in airman first class. i was fresh out of technical training as an aerospace mechanic. i was at a center for 90 days, i had no social support system yet, i lived in a dormitory and did not have a car. my monthly pay was just over $550. as a relatively shy person, i only made one friend so far. i was a female airman in a male-dominated environment and the idea of discussing this personal information with my leadership was out of the question. i felt devastated, lost and alone. my dream of a successful military career was falling apart before i even had a chance to get started. but looking back, i now realize how fortunate i was. at that time, i was fortunate.

i was fortunate i did not have to travel far to get an abortion. i was lucky my only friend on base was willing to drive me to an abortion clinic 90 minutes away along the missouri and kansas border. i was lucky the clinic was able to schedule my appointment saturday morning so i bypassed the need to request time off. this would have been a critical hurdle. it was policy that airman in training were prohibited from taking leave unless it was a compelling reason. i cannot imagine having to discuss such a personal matter with my male leadership. after my abortion i had a whole day to recover in my dorm room before returning to work monday morning. i had access to the reproductive care i needed, but i had some financial difficulties to overcome. the abortion cost my entire paycheck. i had to wait until my next pay

period to repay my friends gas money for driving me to my appointment. i was grateful for having access to the on base dining facility for meals and i scraped by to next paycheck arrived. without question, if i had not been able to have an abortion as a junior enlisted member, i would not have had my career and i would not be in front of you today. at the time of my pregnancy, i did not have the financial ability, support or personal desire to become a single mother serving in the armed forces. i know many strong servicewomen who have succeeded as single mothers, deep down i knew abortion was the right personal decision for me. today i'm speaking in support of women in the military who will now have a much harder time to access abortion than i did. i'm here today to give the airman first class time to tell her story, and hope you will consider that i am especially

concerned for these junior members like i was in states that have banned abortion. and he will have to travel hundreds of miles away to find an available clinic in a state that recognizes the legal right to abortion. will they be able to afford transportation and hotel costs along with the cost of an abortion? will they need to ask direct supervisors for leave? will this knowledge compromise their careers or will their privacy be respected? will their situation become workcenter gaza? most importantly, what will their future look like if they did not have an abortion? in closing, my heart is heavy after the supreme court decision. my story is not unique. i personally know many women who have faced much more difficult circumstances accessing an abortion while serving. it deeply saddens me to know that as i come to the end of my career, my fellow servicewomen must face so many additional

barriers and challenges to access the reproductive care they deserve. they might not have the same opportunities to succeed as i did. thank you again for this opportunity to testify today on such a critical issue that involves the health and economic well-being of servicewomen and women in general. i look forward to any questions. >> thank you, major. you show extraordinary courage and leadership and we are very grateful to you for sharing your story. now we will hear from dr. lemay, and ob/gyn who is a naval medical officer. dr. lemay? >> sorry, i was having issues. chairman, ranking member and committee members, thank you for this opportunity to testify. before i begin, i would like to

specify that i'm here today in my personal capacity as a physician. the opinions are those of myself and do not reflect the official position of the navy or u.s. government. as an active duty ob/gyn with fellowship training in family planning, prior to specializing, i spent five years in an operational environment as a surgeon, including with the marines. during my time as a flight surgeon and even more so as an ob/gyn, i have seen how restrictions impact servicewomen and active-duty families. active-duty women face unique challenges in the scope of reproductive health care and witnessing this let me to change my specialty to ob/gyn and to pursue additional training in family planning. i am honored to be here today

alongside my fellow panelists. abortion care is a part of the full spectrum of reproductive health care and should be available to access no matter the needed -- the reason for needing the care. one of the things i do as a physician is tell a family something is wrong with their pregnancy. i have had to tell patients that while ending their pregnancy early was needed, it was not an option. one woman gave me consent to share her story today. this was their second overseas tour, far away from family. i remember the look on the specialists face when she walked into the office and asked me to join her in talking to the couple about the anomalies she had seen in their options. their daughter had severe malformations that meant she was unlikely to survive until delivery. my patient asked about the

pregnancy and we talked about it. i told them legally, because her life was not at risk, i was unable to offer the option and it would not be covered by health insurance. if she wanted to end the pregnancy, she would have to pay for the procedure. the care would cost thousands of dollars, plus the cost of international plane tickets, hotel rooms and other expenses. there was no way this young enlisted family had the means for that undertaking. thankfully, she had an amazing friend to set up a fundraiser for the family, and in a few days, they had an overwhelming response and enough money to access the care she needed. when she returned, she told me everyone the clinic was wonderful but she wished i had been the one who had in there with her throughout the process. my patient in this case was able to get the care she needed, but so many of my patients do not. they should not have to share their stories publicly or ask

for financial help from strangers. time is also a concern. for active-duty women, they must request leave from their commanding officer, who may deny it or ask for details, forcing them to disclose personal medical information to someone who is not actually involved in their medical care. i worry about my patients no longer able to access care because of where they are stationed. as active-duty embers, we don't get to choose where we live. we have volunteered to protect our country and move every few years from state to state and often overseas. we cannot choose the laws under which we are held pinning on our duty station. i'll health care and military members and dependents should not be based on the current duty station but on a consistent standard of care. in closing, i want to share how thankful i am for the recent memo reaffirming that we in military medicine can and will continue to provide reproductive health care within the scope of

federal legislation. but more needs to be done. i urge you to provide federal protection both patients and physicians who provide eagle and needed services on federal land. i would ask you to go even further. while i hope to see it overturned, i would ask congress to -- as exist for many other procedures covered by tricare. providing the same options for abortion procedures impacts the readiness of our armed services and i fear the impact will worsen with unequal state restrictions that forced patients to travel long distances and take leave to obtain care they desperately deserve and need. thank you. >> thank you, dr. lamme or your

profound comments. we now welcome a texas-based civilian ob/gyn who serves service members. welcome. >> good morning. i am a board-certified ob/gyn, a child of iranian immigrants, a mom, a texan in a proud abortion provider. i serve on the board of directors for physicians for reproductive health and texas equal access funds. abortion is essential health care. every person in our country has the human right to decide for themselves when and if to start a family. that includes members of the armed forces. as an ob/gyn, i know firsthand that healthy families and thriving communities require access to abortion care. abortion bands disproportionally harm structurally oppressed communities and members of the armed forces. servicemembers and families are often far from their home, young

and living on low income. if you have the resources needed to access time sensitive abortion care. while i can talk at length about the impacts of abortion bands on the many communities i serve, today i will speak about my experiences caring for members of the military. before becoming a physician, i worked for an abortion provider in austin near fort hood. we routinely cared for service members and a witness the countless obstacles they entered to receive abortion care. they struggled to obtain leave, get rides from austin -- to austin from the base, and even a referral on where to go. because of the culture, the ability to find our clinic often depended on one person on base who was willing to secretly give people our brochure. essential health care for our armed forces hinged on a whisper network. for those who managed to find is, i can't even begin to describe the pain service members expressed we would

explain your tricare will not cover this, you have to pay out-of-pocket. after becoming a physician, i spent part of my training on base at fort place -- fort bliss. i cared for countless sexual assault survivors at our clinic even though they technically should have been able to receive that care on base. at fort bliss, i recognize the problem. everything must line up perfectly for the survivor. i was only able to care for one such person at fort bliss. they fully her supporting that her commanding officer was supportive and she was able to obtain authorization for an abortion. as many on the committee no, it can be daunting for servicemember to report an assault by another member of the military. i was grateful everything worked out for this patient, but this is not how health care should work for members of our military. after residency, i did fellowship in hawaii, state with

a large military population and a critical health care destination for service members stationed in asia. hawaii has excellent abortion access and many residents can receive financial and transportation coverage for care. that is, except the member's of the military. i will never forget weeping after sitting with an unlisted -- enlisted service member who had to count out quarters to cover her care. she asked me what part of pain management she could for both -- forgo she promised me she did not need pain medication. i was forever changed when is that injustice. another patient was raped by another servicemember while stationed in asia. feeling unsafe, she could not seek help from her commanding officer. she cannot find care where she was stationed and it took several weeks to apply to hawaii for care. because of the significant violence she endured, she would've ideally had her

abortion under deep sedation, which is not a requirement for sake abortion but might be necessary for trauma survivors. access to anesthesia makes the cost significantly higher, sometimes over $10,000. she was paying out-of-pocket and she had her abortion with just numbing medicine in our clinic while i provided skilled and compassionate care, but it was devastating to see someone caring for country abandoned. i was honored to be trusted with her care and she should never have been forced to come all the way to me to access her right to an abortion. i will end by saying that we should all be incredibly angry at the systematic denial of reproductive autonomy happening to millions of people in our country today. nobody deserves to suffer the indignity of counting quarters to pay for medical care, foregoing medication to alleviate pain, traveling thousands of miles for basic health care, or having whispered

conversations about where or how to access care. these things happen every day to our service members and civilians in every one of your states. i envision a world where everyone has access to culturally relevant abortion care in their own communities. this committee's jurisdiction is armed forces so i will implore each of you to at least make this world a reality for our service members. thank you for having me today. >> thank you. again, extraordinary testimony. it pains me, as i am sure it pains many of us, to hear these stories, but they are real stories. paying extraordinary sums of money to travel and get an abortion because they cannot access and abortion at a medical treatment facility. to look at the states, again, that have basically banned all abortions and have criminalized

providers for giving women abortions, it is also compelling as well. let me start with asking the two physicians, one of the letters i received was from an army psychiatrist. she wrote, the risk of postpartum depression can be particularly high for unwanted or unplanned pregnancies. for women under significant stress, military women are known to have higher rates of unintended pregnancy, often times 120 5% of the regular population, and they may face unique stressors related to an unplanned pregnancy, including the physical and emotional stress of their work, it can affect a career and obtaining adequate childcare for long and unpredictable work hours. military women are therefore understandably concerned about

access to reproductive health care. even before roe v. wade was overturned, i worked with female patients distraught about receiving orders to post in texas after the texas heartbeat act was passed. some of these women are already in a fragile emotional state and have the self-awareness to realize they are currently unequipped to whether the mental and physical stress of pregnancy much less motherhood. others are prescribed medications critical to their stability. they may lack the means to travel for abortion, require permission from the chain of command even for weekend travel if it is beyond a certain radius , and they may not trust the military to protect their privacy should they request such travel to obtain abortion. even i and some of my female physician peers in the military with the relative privilege of being officers and physicians, fear someday receiving orders to a state that has banned abortion. because of the increased maternal torah -- maternal

mortality rate in areas that don't allow abortion, i would not feel safe in such a state. doctors, that is an extraordinary statement from a psychiatrist, haverhill health provider, about the impacts of state restrictions on health care for servicewomen. as obgyn's, what is your assessment on the dobbs decision on military and civilian health care providers to provide care to military personnel? >> thank you, congresswoman. while the recent statement from the undersecretary makes it clear that we in military medicine can and will continue to provide health care under current federal legislation, there are still many questions that remain both for patients and providers.

in various locations. i'm lucky i am stationed in washington state, so nothing changes for me. for some of my colleagues stationed in texas or florida or georgia or overseas, there are questions on if they provide an abortion procedure that is legally allowed but then go home, can they be arrested? can they be tried with something? who is going to help them pay for that? because the cost of that can be devastating. the same situation exists from a patient's. if they get a legal abortion procedure on base but live in a more restricted area and have bleeding or concerns and go to the emergency room, are they going to be arrested and prosecuted for something they legally obtained on base? i think that is one of the questions that still exists and

one of the fears i have heard from patients and colleagues in more restricted areas over the last month or so. thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. i will add, from what you heard in my testimony and what the other witnesses have testified today, the majority of abortion care provided for members of the military does not happen on base. it happens off base. so when we are talking about a state like texas, that means that no one right now that is stationed here has access to abortion care. the nearest states -- oklahoma doesn't have abortion care anymore. arkansas doesn't have abortion care anymore. alabama does not have abortion care anymore. we are not just talking about the next city now, which was already a huge hurdle for many members of the military, but we are talking about traveling

hundreds, thousands of miles to be able to get what is a very basic, simple, safe essential health care. a first trimester abortion takes three to five minutes to complete, but someone stationed at fort hood in texas my travel for two days to access the procedure now. >> thank you. majors, what are some of the barriers facing servicewomen who seek abortion? and what if you heard from service members about their concerns about being stationed in a state that bans abortion? >> thank you for the question. for non-tricare covered abortions, there is minimal to no support. while recent changes in the air force instructions remove the need for a commander's approval for the procedure, members are still left with the burden of taking personal time off, paying for travel, out-of-pocket

expenses for the procedure as well. these restrictions, as mentioned earlier, disproportionately affect training bases, where members have less access to resources and expands additional barriers to travel or leave to training status. >> thank you. i would say the challenges are extremely worse today. the base pay of an e1 with less than two years of service as a little under $900. even if they can reach a clinic, they face longer wait times, increased costs due to travel, lodging, childcare, and more expensive procedures. they require multiple trips to the clinic and this would add more and more costs, not to mention more and more time off. how many levels of leadership does the request need to go through? i'm so concerned about their privacy and mental health. can junior members of for these

costs? -- afford these costs? >> do you think this will discourage women from serving in the military? >> absolutely. >> yes. just yesterday i shared this hearing was one of my coworkers, a fellow service worker, a man. he shared with me that his wife needed an abortion after an ectopic pregnancy. he stated without timely access to this life-saving procedure, his wife could have died. he had almost two years in his eyes as he recounted the story was so impactful. he could have been an active duty service member with a small child and a widow. we further discussed concerns and what if he was stationed in a state that now bans all abortions. access to reproductive care's matters to the life of fellow

military members and our families, both male and female. the court's decision affects us all. >> again, thank you offer your extrude in a participation today. i yield to the ranking member. >> thank you. i think we all agree that the assignment process, and first of all thank you all for being here and sharing your stories -- the assignment process is the means by which the military makes sure it has people in the right assignments to meet its mission work armen's both in -- mission requirements both in the united states and overseas. there is a military essential task that requires specific skills and knowledge. looking to the future, let's say you were given the choice to be assigned -- guess i would ask three of you this question -- if you are given the choice to be

assigned to an installation based on laws favorable to your political beliefs, whether it is a pro-life state or pro-choice state, or some thing else, let's say they had a concealed carry like you didn't agree with or another issue, maybe there is an office in dod creating an assignment matrix. i think the potential ramifications for that and dod and the services trying to manage a system like that, and for service members that now need to put politics in their service assignment equation gets unworkable quickly. guess my question is whether you think that personal preference for an assignment should supersede a validated military requirement for your service to assign you where they need you? >> thank you. again, we are not talking about assignments and the assignment process, and i believe at the end of the day, it is the needs

of the military, because that is why i serve. but i believe as a serving member, i am also owed a standard of care. if we talk about access to health care and standardized health care, that should not change based on the state i am stationed. i have four daughters and i would hesitate to take any of them to a state where i know their bodily autonomy is not going to be respected. i don't believe this is a political issue, as you stated, i believe a person's health care should be a discussion between the member and their medical provider. health care should not be politicized. i shouldn't have to be here today telling my privatebut i as that by telling my story, i humanize this issue and bring to light that health care is not a

political issue. it is about understanding that everyone has the right to comprehensive medical care, to include abortion access. i hope that we can redirect this conversation and understand or accept that the welfare, safety of our service members and their families become the priority. thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you for your question. if i had not had access to abortion, i when i have served in your military for the last 20 years. a service members to reproductive care should not depend on what state they are stationed. texas, arizona, florida, georgia, ohio, south dakota,

oklahoma, missouri, arkansas, mississippi, alabama and south carolina are all homes of large military installations and now they fully or almost ban abortion's. this makes me fear for all my fellow service members. i am sharing my stories because i care about access and safe reproductive care. i care about my sisters in the armed forces. i believe we all deserve this right no matter what state the military sends us to. we defend your freedoms. please defend my and my access to reproductive care. >> thank you. i only have 30 seconds left. unfortunately, i think health care is a political issue. insomuch how we provided.

the reason i focus on this issue of assignments and whether servicemember preference should supersede the law of the land is that is what was suggested by the pentagon. that is what we are trying to work through in good faith right now. i look forward to the day when there is a less politicized discussion on health care, but it has been my observation that it is a difficult topic that requires us to talk about it through the political process. i am out of time. rep. speier: i thank the gentleman. i have a question. do you think service members should have to take personal leave in order to access the health care that is not available to them? >> do i think that service

members should have to take personal leave in order to get an abortion in the state where it is legal? in the current system, would it be illegal for the command to grant them leave to get an abortion in a different state? rep. speier: the fact that we do not offer the health care where they are means they then have to take what leak they have and use it to get to health care, which seems once again like another punitive step. i think you and i are on the same page that there should not be an ability to pick the state in which you serve. but we have 102 installations

right now in the united states in which the states ban, totally been, access to abortion care. that is an extraordinary number. we have another 29 installations where they are about to ban abortion's. we have to take a step back and recognize that you cannot penalize them with the cost associated with travel and lose their vacation time, what little there is. we are creating a real incentive for women not to serve. it is almost an insidious effort to encourage women to leave the military and that is the last thing i want. >> i think what we are trying to do here today, and obviously we

have disagreements on both sides of the issue, is to work through all of these issues and understand what the dod's proposed policy is. my understanding, one issue is that it would run into having to fund --. that is what we are working through here today. rep. speier: i thank you for that interchange. i now recognize our next representative for five minutes. >> thank you. i was the one person who voted on the others of the aisle who

said we should not be able to pick where we are serving. i served in the military myself. i remember being a young girl moving around almost every single year and my father would say, we do not get to pick where we are going, so i really appreciate, i think we share that. i am appreciative of your testimony because when i served, i was a young mother as well. i remember having limited leave and not being able to travel. that would have certainly limited my opportunity had i needed to make those kinds of decisions for my own health care. i am remembering back to my own mother who was a navy mom and

they had their children. what the sorts of decisions they had to make while they were naval moms as well. so i think you very much for your bravery. would you be able to talk a little bit more about the privacy issues that both of you talked about? i remember also struggling about whether to share certain issues about mental health one i was on active duty. >> i believe that in the military there is still a stigma surrounding this topic. just even coming here and the

statement i had to give, making sure to state this is not the air forces view. it makes it hard to talk about this. i am a firm believer should not politicize our health care issues. when i am at work, i can talk about my health care issues. because that is something that is encouraged. when we talk about abortion specifically, this is not a topic that is accepted in the office. we do not speak about this. it is amongst friends only. you do not advertise it. you do not know what their views are on this. if you have a supervisor who does not support your decision, it can come back to you putatively. it is a very uncomfortable situation to be in. we have a culture where our

policies do not support it just enforces that stigma. we are not educated in the military what our rights are with regards to access an emergency contraception. most people do not know this information because we are not told. unless we seek the information ourselves, it is not advertise to the rest the bus. >> thank you. i have one other question for the doctor as well. would you speak a little bit to miscarriage and to your experience in this very common occurrence?

>> first of all, restriction abortion access always impacts all pregnancy care. the fact that abortion is illegal in texas makes pregnancy in general more dangerous. physicians across the state have been delaying life-saving interventions for miscarriage care because they are worried about how they intersect with the abortion bans in our state. they are worried about that. it should be a huge concern for service members and service members spouses how they will be treated and how their lives will be valued. >> thank you. my time is expired.

i yield back. rep. speier: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you. rep. speier: i apologize. we will turn to mr. phelan for five minutes. >> i do not have any questions for this panel. thank you. rep. speier: the gentleman from new jersey is recognize. >> i just want to say thank you for all of you and your testimonies. i have had a lot of hearings here and have to say i believe this one to be at the top in terms of the most powerful ones i have been a part of. to be able to hear your stories first-hand, i want to thank you for your willingness to come forward. it is important for us to hear

this. i have never served in uniform. i am not a woman or a mother. for me to be able to understand your perspective is invaluable. when i hear your stories, something that really stands out is about how some circumstance came about that helped you along this path. maj. arana, you talked about how you were having a trip to your hometown. maj. mozzillo, you talked about how there was one friend. i can't really moved by that. it bothers me because it should not have to change on that.

what do you think would have happened had you not had you not had that trip scheduled back home? >> thank you for the question. it would have been one of two things. if i would have been forced to carry through with the pregnancy , my training went up and curtailed or i would have been sent to another station. it would have affected the entire path of my career. >> you told the story about how you did not know many people there and there was one person who was able to drive you. what do you think would have happened if you had not met that person? >> thank you for your question. i thought about that too many times.

i joined the air force for an economic step up and a career. where my life would have went if i did not have that abortion, i have no idea. i value and credit that abortion provider 19 years ago for where i am today. i would not be standing here before you today telling my story and trying to make an impact for my fellow servicewomen. thank you. >> it really hits me because we are here on this committee trying to make sure you have the services that you need to be able to serve our nation. for your choices to just come down to these circumstances of trips and people to help out, it just shows how broken of the system, how we filled you in terms of being able to provide you what you needed. you were saying this happened

when you were graduating from officer training school. i am sure a of that officer training school program was about your physical well-being. obviously, a big part of that was about your health care. about making sure you are physically fit to be a servicemember. would you say your health care when it came to having an abortion that that was something that would've affected your well-being and your ability to do your duty? >> absolutely. we have a responsibility to remain deployable. when the kingdoms to -- when it comes to abortion, we are abandoned by the system. i want to also point out that

the left of our bases right now do not have sufficient obstetrics care. this does not just affect me, it affects family members as well, our dependence. we are beholding to civilian services. three of my children were born in civilian hospitals. it is important to create a standard of care across the board that is lacking right now. >> we should have done better for you. thank you. rep. speier: the gentleman yields back. the gentlewoman from texas is recognized. >> thank you for convening this hearing. i want to thank all of our witnesses for attending this

hearing, for sharing such incredible and powerful stories. for your bravery, for your advocacy. dr. moayedi, so good to see you again. thank you for your work in our state. i want to share very briefly, i have the incredible privilege of representing fort bliss. to represent el paso, texas. fort bliss is a critical component of our community. the day after the supreme court draft was leaked, my office received a number of calls from female service members stationed at fort bliss, who were concerned and wanted to know what would happen to them if they were to need abortion care

while they were in the state of texas, while they were in el paso, while they were stationed at fort bliss. there is so much uncertainty for women around all of this. and there are consequences to these decisions, real-life consequences that are potentially deadly for women. we heard about the ectopic pregnancy situation and the impact it has on women and families and the limitations to help care for them. but there are also direct economic impacts for women. both ms. arana and ms. mozzillo shared that. i want to ask both of you. ever since the overturning of roe, what have you heard from

fellow service members, from women and when -- men who care about this issue. have you heard anything from your colleagues? >> thank you for the question. we had friends reach out and say that what is it that will happen when they get here? overall, it is a feeling of owned -- understanding that state louts are becoming more restrictive. we talk about bounty laws and the effect it will have on our service. when we's about readiness, the dod is a unique employer.

we are not afforded the same privacy. it kind of sets us up for the situation that is similar to don't ask, don't tell. overall, degrades morale, it affects retention. it does not create the environment that we are told we were supposed to uphold for supporting our service. thank you. >> ms. mozzillo, have you heard anything from your colleagues? >> absolutely. the dod decision makes us all scared for the future of the military. i am worried that these barriers to accessing reproductive care

will discourage new recruits. i am also worried current members will leave the military depending on what station they are in. i would say it affects the whole family and it affects all of us, male and female, and it affects the military at large. >> thank you so much. i think that is something so critical for us to understand is the impact on readiness, the impact on the military, the impact on recruitment and retention. we want the best. we want to have a military that is ready, that is lethal, that is focused on what it needs to be focused on. the situation for women right now does not create those conditions. rep. speier: the gentleman from california is recognized. >> thank you for hosting this hearing. thank you to our witnesses for

sharing your stories. as a young woman myself, reproductive health care is also my health care. i am sorry that you have to share personal details about your health care in order to make a change. i think it is important that we share our stories because we do need to destigmatize these issues. this is health care like all other health care. i am proud to represent san diego. my constituents can still get the health care that they need. but they need to transfer between bases. i have to talk to their parents and their loved ones and they are asking me constantly if i am doing everything i can to keep them safe, and they do not just mean when they are deployed overseas.

if you are talking to a young woman right now who was 16 or 17 years old and they were asking you if they should join the military right now, what would you despise them? -- advise them? >> i have never regretted my choice of enlisting. i spent 2.5 decades and it has always been the exact right decision for me. i would never discourage everybody -- anybody from joining the military. we are all here because we believe we can be better and do better. one of the ways we make better policies is by focusing on inclusive policy. what we are working towards his policy that enforce barriers that are already existing. rather we should be looking

toward policies that identify barriers and tear them down. that includes access to abortion. i would never discourage anybody from joining the military. >> thank you. ms. mozzillo, what would you advise the young woman today? >> i do not regret my military service. i am here today to share my personal story because i care about young women. i want to make sure they do not experience difficult challenges and that they have the same opportunities that i did. i want to make sure they have access to abortion care because it is essential to their well-being. thank you. >> i wanted to follow up on something. which is that there is not enough ob/gyn's in the military.

does the department have enough trained gynecologists to meet this moment? what steps could we further prioritize ob/gyn care? >> thank you for that question. i cannot speak to policies of the dod and staffing issues within the dod. we do not currently have staffing for every reproductive age, so we do rely on our local community to help care for those patients and much of the ob/gyn care in many locations does need to be deferred to the network, so we are reliant on that.

that is the reality of the staffing that we have that many locations right now. >> dr. moayedi, do you have anything to add? >> having worked as a civilian therefore police -- fort bliss, i routinely receive transfers, so i know from the transfers i have received, that high-risk obstetric care cannot be care for them based. many times, civilian hospitals are where they are sent to for care because there are not enough beds or staffing. so that is definitely a concern. >> thank you.

for many years, my ob/gyn with the only doctor i went to, much like many women. rep. speier: the gentle man from california is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you. we are fortunate and women in the military are very fortunate. many members of congress care deeply about the role of women and the challenges that women have in the military. we are fortunate that you were there. i think you for that. -- i thank you for that. as chairman of the readiness

committee, we are well aware of the extraordinary challenges that the military has to be ready to perform its duties anywhere in the world. we are increasingly relying upon women joining the military to serve in many different positions. i am deeply concerned about the long-term and near-term effect that the dod's decision is going to have on the readiness of the military. it will have a detrimental effect on the women who were serving in the military, and families who are going to be affected by the dod's decision.

over 100 installations are in states that are banning abortion's in nearly every circumstance. this will roll out in a very negative way for the readiness of our military. i am deeply concerned about what is happening. and the ability of our military to perform as a result of the dod's decision. i look forward to continue to work with you, chairman. thank you for your leadership on this. >> the gentleman yields back. i thank him for his comments. mr. vesey is recognized for five minutes. >> we've talked a lot about

reproductive rights today. i want to specifically ask a question about contraception and what is available out there for people that are in the military, particularly since she is in texas. i would love to know that on texas bases.

i had an interesting experience at a town hall that i had a few years ago and there were some people from a local right to life chapter that showed up and they were asking me questions. and i said look, we're not going to agree on abortion, but can we at least agree on trying to prevent unwanted pregnancies and that would help reduce abortions if you could reduce that pregnancy. and the guy looked at me and said are you part of the hookup culture? i was surprised by that response back. and i said, no, i'm not part of the hookup culture, i'm married. he said are you an animal because if you can't -- the only reason you would need contraception is because you're an animal and you can't control yourself. that's why people would need contraception. and so, that was really one of the first times that i realized that are people that really do believe that contraception should be just as controversial and just as debated over this, part of the right to life chapter in fort worth, that he adamantly believed in that. and i just wanted to ask what sort of contraception services, particularly in texas bases, what's available? is there division over these particular services or do people from all political stripes that serve in the military use these particular services?

>> thank you, representative, doctor, but i have been proud to provide abortion care for many, many, many people in your district and i thank you for your service to our community. i can tell you firsthand that the people of your district have always struggled to access not only abortion care, but conception care. while i have only worked on one base, that was fort bliss, people on base often had access to conception and good access to contraception, like the other panelists mentioned, the base is not the only place where people receive health care and specifically family planning health care. even though i've only worked on one base with conception care, i've provided contraception or attempted to many people, who are in the armed forces and their spouses off base. it's true that abortion is not

the only thing that anti-abortion extremists are looking to limit. in our state government, we hear anti-abortion extremists also saying they want to limit or stop access to contraception, that they actually don't understand how contraception works. they often conflate contraception with abortion care. and it's frankly, it's very, very disturbing that many members of our legislature in texas also believe these same things. yes, i'll end there. >> doctor, with that, do you think that there is a n opportunity -- one of the right to life companies to come and initially protest, i did urge them to sit down and ask me questions as well. i'm a strong believer in the first amendment. and one of the ladies said she was a nurse and trying to

explain to me that iud's don't actually work. do you think that there is an opportunity for people that you have met from different political -- whether they're right or left, to start having more substantive conversations around the topic of contraception that doesn't delve into the black and white-style camps? >> well, i'll say that i take care of people from every political party and every religious belief and so this actually, it's not a political issue in that everyone needs abortion. republicans need abortion. people who are pro-life need abortion and i take care of them, too. so, while i am happy and proud to serve and take care of anyone, no matter what their beliefs are, i don't engage in arguing with people who fundamentally don't believe in science and who fundamentally believe in white supremacy.

i will not argue with those people but i will provide them health care when they need it. >> thank you very much. >> the gentleman yields back. the gentlewoman from texas, ms. garcia, is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, madam chair, and allowing me to join your committee. we're not on your committee, but we certainly have marveled at your leadership for many issues on this committee. this issue is one that is very important to me and so many texans. as the doctor just noted, we are sort of the epicenter for a lot of what's been going on in this issue so i thank you for bringing forward such great witnesses for this hearing. abortion care is essential to a person's health and essential to their economic and social well-being. a group of extremists across the

country have fought for the last 50 years to strip women of their rights. with the help of the supreme court, they have finally succeeded. regretfully, women do deserve better. particularly those who serve in our military. my district in houston is about 77% latino, so it does impact, in my view, minority women, vulnerable populations more than any other group. so, it has been interesting for me to listen this morning, because obviously, the additional barriers in place for women that live in installations, that no matter what military branch, is very concerning to me. statutory bans in different states prohibit abortions in most circumstances.

i didn't know that. i am learning -- madam chair, may be my third month on this committee. i can tell you that it's really frightening to even think, as my colleague from texas has said, that there may be restrictions on birth control and iud's, on the morning after pill, on any others, because this is what opens the door. my question is really to the doctors. i have a niece that is a pediatrician. she works in fort worth that a community health center. she shares with me the frustration that she has when she cannot do something for her patient. whether it is a staffing issue, the lack of a specialist. for you, this is so different because it's military folks

telling you you can't do something. i'm sure most doctors are like my niece, they take their hippocratic of very seriously. it pains her because she has the turning mother away because she does not have the shot available for her child. i just want to hear from the doctors on how they feel when they have to turn someone away because they cannot provide a service that they would want to do and their medical profession would dictate that they do. either one of the doctors. i want to hear from both, but whoever wants to start first. >> you want me to take the first? thank you, congresswoman. i appreciate the question. it does honestly, one of the most difficult things for physicians in the military is to have restrictions to what we can

provide. i'd actually like to share another patient story with you. we could only provide abortion services if the life of the mother was at risk. we could not provide them in cases of rape or incest. i remember one particular case where one of the women in my squadron was raped at a squadron party. when she found out she was pregnant, she came to me for care. i had to be the one to tell her that legally, we could not provide her abortion at the military hospital we were at and she would have to pay for it on her own. she asked me if i could drive her to the local planned parenthood after she made an appointment because she was positive she did not want to carry this pregnancy to term after a rape. that is not an unusual thing. as a flight surgeon, i would

take many of my patients who had medical appointments out in town with specialists to their appointments. it was not an unusual request, but when i asked for permission to do that, i was told by my legal officer that i could not because i was being paid by the navy, so me driving her was essentially using military funds to help her get her abortion care. the legal officer's recommendation was that she was the driver. at this time, there were only a few women within the squadron so it was likely the duty driver was going to be a male and possibly someone at the party that she was raped at. i could not express the relief i had when the amendment passed and i no longer had to tell patients that i could not take care of them. it was amazing to be able to do

that. however, i do realize that many of my patients don't actually know that they have that right and that i can take care of them within a military treatment facility. it breaks my heart to hear how many women still end up going out to town to get the care they need. the patient that the doctor discussed who could have used general anesthesia if she had felt comfortable telling her physician if she had been raped, i or one of my colleagues could have actually provided that anesthesia so that she was not paying out-of-pocket. but she didn't know that and the military medical system did not know she needed that care. i think that is one of the big challenges we have right now and it breaks my heart. thank you. >> the gentlewoman's time has expired. the gentleman from

california is recognized for five minutes. >> i want to thank you, chairwoman, for allowing me to get onto this hearing. i want to thank the active-duty service members for your courageous testimony. chairwoman, i am profoundly moved by the testimony i am hearing this morning. tragic stories. as chairman of the house veterans affairs committee, i am committed to ensuring our nation and v.a. continue to support our service members after they no longer are uniform. i'd like to ask, are you aware that veterans have even less access to abortion counseling and abortion services through v.a. health care than active-duty service members do through the department of defense? >> thank you for the question.

i have not researched honestly about v.a. rights or services after out of uniform and retirement. i think it is such a disservice that the lack of support for members who supposedly are celebrated, who are thanked for our service, yet it feels very performative when those thank you's are not followed up with actionable support. thank you. >> thank you. >> hello, thank you for your question. i did know that. i follow the v.a. health care system as a medical service corps officer. i am familiar with the v.a. i'm proud of my military service and it saddens me to know that soon i will end my military career and i will have to face these challenges. and the sacrifices i made during my career, those will go

unnoticed because i am a woman and i will not have access to the same care that i did when i was active-duty. thank you. >> well, it makes me concerned that this is one of the reasons why women veterans do not access health care at the v.a. that may need the very specialized services in terms of not posttraumatic stress or mental health, but the fact the v.a. cannot even councilwomen -- counsel women in their health care in regards to abortion. the v.a. is not bound to the policy providing abortion to service members in the case of rape, incessant or pers ovation of the life or the mother -- preservation of the life of the mother. the v.a. has made its own policy

to avoid providing any abortion counseling or services. as service members who will one day be veterans, do you believe the v.a. should at the very least align itself with the department of defense and use its authority to provide abortion counseling and services in those limited circumstances? >> i believe that all veterans are dis-serving of a standard of care. and standard of care means comprehensive reproductive care as well, to include abortion. >> thank you. i believe reproductive care is health care and it should make no difference and it should be included as part of our benefits. thank you. >> thank you. based on your experience as a dod provider, what guidance should d.a. provide -- v.a. provide to its staff and what are the dangers the v.a.

continuing its policy to avoid providing abortion counseling and care, even in cases of rape, incensed, and threats to the mother's life? >> while i cannot speak directly to policies within the v.a., and i have not worked within the v.a. system, i do believe that reproductive health care is primary health care. and you should be allowing those to access it, whether or not they are at a military treatment facility or a v.a. facility. so, i hope that both the v.a. and within military medicine, we are able to continue to expand the access to that very needed and often life-saving reproductive health care for women. >> does it trouble you that from your ability to counsel women about their options, including women who's lives may be in

danger, does that trouble you? >> i find that very troubling because that is something i do have to do with my patients very frequently. it's heartbreaking to not be able to always provide the care that patients need if it is not within the federal regulations allowed for us. but to not be able to counsel them and to essentially have a gag order that does not let me tell the patient with the full scope of the health care that's available or should be available to them is is very troubling, and i would find that very disturbing if i was in that situation. >> thank you. i yield back. >> the gentleman yields back. the gentlewoman from california, the chair of the health committee, is recognized. >> thank you very much, madam chair. i also want to add my sentiments

, thanking them for sharing their stories today, your bravery. it is truly twofold by serving your country and the military -- in the military and now serving our nation by coming forward to publicly tell your story. we're extraordinarily grateful. chairwoman, thank you for letting me wave onto the committee this morning. i'm chair of the veteran affairs health subcommittee and i also chair the women's veterans task force. as the chairman of the v.a. committee just said, the v.a. has the most restrictive policy of any federal agency on abortion and abortion counseling. there is a ban on both abortion and abortion counseling. and it is the most restrictive. even the bureau of prisons allow

abortions, elective abortions. so prisoners in our federal prisons are allowed elective abortions. they must pay for it but it is on a sliding scale in terms of what they can afford. so, i think i wanted to ask the doctors this question. a little bit different than what the chairman of the v.a. was asking. and before we go on to the next panel, because i am sure we will ask them the question about what kind of guidance has come so far, i'm interested to hear from you -- at this point in our post-roe world, what guidance and support have you received from the department of defense thus far? in terms of, you know, how you can best support your patients. >> thank you.

there was actually a recent statement on june 28 from the undersecretary of the defense, who did specify that we in military medicine can and will continue to provide full scope reproductive health care within the scope of federal legislation. so, in theory, that doesn't mean we continue to provide the care we have always provided. and for physicians such as myself who are stationed in washington or california or states without restriction, it does not make a difference. it means we are continuing to provide the care we've always had. i do think that for many of my colleagues that are in more restrictive states, there is still a concern on whether or not they can be prosecuted from the state even though they are legally allowed to provide these

services on federal land and that is one of the concerns that exists. i would encourage the committee to make legislation that protects both the physicians and the patient's regardless of where they are stationed. thank you. >> i will just add to that. to your point, representative, and to representative kim's point earlier as well, that the laws currently being passed across the country are also naming and targeting at helpers. we heard today how important just one person can be for a service member to be able to access and abortion. but right now, what we are seeing in texas is that extremists are saying they want to come after an arrest and prosecute anyone who aids and

abets an abortion. that means anyone who gives you that gas money, anyone that gives you that ride, help to arrange that care. so, we are not just talking about a cruel and inhumane ban on a human right to health care, but also we are talking about systems that are being put into place to keep neighbors and community members from supporting each other. we should all be worried about what that will mean for the future of our country. >> thank you for that. so the doctors as well, can you prescribe the abortion pill? >> no, you cannot prescribe the abortion pill technically yet because there is what is called a risk mitigation strategy. the combination drugs that are used in medication abortion must be dispensed through a health care facility. you can't go to your local pharmacy.

or certain types of registered pharmacies. in texas, it cannot be accessed through a pharmacy at all. >> thank you for that. thank you, madam chair. >> the gentlewoman yields back. this brings to a conclusion our first panel. and i must say, it is truly a great privilege for us to have heard from you, majors, doctors. i've done a terrible job on your name. did i get it right? you have provided us with great insights into the fractured system that exists in the military for women. one that is untenable and unacceptable. and one that we must fix. you have provided great information for us, great

testimony. your courage and bravery is to be commended. with that, we are going to recess. all right, we're going to recess momentarily to bring the next panel on. we are going to take the testimony from the undersecretary, and then we will recess after that for the two votes and come back. thank you very much.

>> we welcome back a friend and former colleague. the honorable undersecretary in the department of defense for personnel and readiness, and the acting assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. undersecretary cisneros, the floor is yours. >> chairwoman, ranking member, and as they wish members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss the rights and access to reproductive health care of our

service members. the department of defense civilians and dod families in light of the june 24 supreme court ruling. secretary austen has made clear nothing is more important than the health and well-being of the service members, dod families. we are committed to taking care of our people and ensuring a ready and resilient force. i want to start by saying i was deeply moved by the witness testimony in the previous panel and appreciate them sharing their experiences and concerns. i want to assure them and this committee that that apartment takes the concerns of our military community seriously, and we are doing all we can to provide the health care are service members deserve with focus and compassion. i was particular moved by the stories about the servicewomen who became pregnant as a result of sexual assault and

experiences during her time in the military. no one should go through what these women have experienced. this is another demonstration of why the department is urgently implement a cultural change to eliminate the scourge of sexual assaults in our military. with these stories highlighted, it means we have work to do. we must build a system with the victims feel comfortable coming forward so they can access all the services they need and legally entitled to. and victims of sexual assault do not need to report their assault to the leadership to access the care and services including abortions. there are many resource to help navigate their options. we will continue to publicize this information as widely as possible and continue to professionalize our sexual assault response workforce and make sure the victims are receiving the care they need and deserve. following the supreme court's ruling, i sent out a memo reassuring our service members that the department will continue to provide abortions,

which we call covered abortions. service members can receive the same reproductive health care after dobbs as they did before the ruling. consistent with long existing federal law, those cases that involve rape, incest, or where the life of the mother would be endangered will continue to be authorized to use federal funds and facilities. there's no interruption to this care. i also affirm our existing policies have not changed. for example, our travel policies remain the same. service members who require travel to obtain a covered abortion may travel on official status and are not charged leave. regular leave could be taken for cases involving noncovered abortion care. the office of personal management released personal guidance for civilians, reiterating employees may use sick leave and other forms of leave for these purposes. i did acknowledge that complexities and challenges posed by the court's decision.

dobbs does not affect the care we provide but service members have to navigate additional challenges to access essential services. service members and their families who were previously able to make very personal decisions may now face greater burdens depending on where they are stationed. this may lead to some wanting to leave the military because they didn't want to be assigned to a duty station where they cannot access the choice of health care. other potential impacts include recruitment for women who know they won't have access or have fears about confidentiality. these are just some of the complex issues brought on by dobbs. we understand the very personal nature of how the court's decision impacts family so we are being very deliberate. we want to make sure we get this

right because it impacts access to essential women's health care and reproductive care. chairwoman, we know there is still more work to be done. as we continue to review our policies, i commit to working with you and this committee just as we've always done. we have a solemn obligation to support all those who volunteer to keep our country secure, including service members and military families. we pledge to do everything we can so that individuals are able to access the health care they need. thank you and we look forward to your questions. >> thank you, undersecretary. do you have a statement as well? >> no, i do not. >> considering we have a vote on now, we will start the questioning. i will reserve my questions until the end. i'm going to recognize the gentleman from new jersey, mr. kim, for five minutes. >> thank you very much.

i know how tough a position we are in in terms of how we are trying to figure out how to provide care to some of the service members. some of the stories we heard today are reflective of what the service members are going through right now. i want to ask you, what do you need from us? what is it we should be thinking about on the hill to be be able to try to open this up? i want to be as crystal-clear to my colleagues about what is at stake and the role we play. i know and appreciate what you outlined. the notices you have given to our service members right now, to the providers. i know that there is more that you want to be able to do. you're going to need to have us and others be able to step up too. i want to give you that opportunity from the outset. >> thank you, congressman kim,

for that question. as is well known, dobbs has created a lot of complexities. this is like -- as many as 29 states we are having to navigate the different laws and to see how that affects our service members in each state. we are currently reviewing our policies and procedures, and we are committed to continue to work with the committee. after we finished that process. but, the complexity of this issue is really, we need to take the time to see how each state law affects us. and as i have stated, we are willing to work with the committee to see how you can best support us. >> i hope you take away from this discussion here that there are many of us here eager and willing to help. we would like to have a continued and robust

conversation not just today but going forward to make sure we are on the same page. another thing i wanted to ask is you also mentioned families may experience distress because of the barriers, it could inflict emotional harm on those seeking care as well as their families. i wanted to make sure we are being mindful about some of the challenges we are facing in other aspects when it comes to mental health. i wanted to ask if you have been thinking that through and if there are any additional resources for behavioral health services to try to address some of these types of other effects that are coming from these challenges that service members are facing. >> you're right. the dobbs decision not only affects our service members, but also their families. a service never could have a spouse that may need to go seek access to care outside of the

state where this type of health care is not permitted. so, it does affect our families. mental health, behavioral health is an issue we are very concerned about. the secretary has said many times that mental health is health and we continue to work with our service members and families to ensure they get the mental health care they need. if any servicemember does come and desires and needs help, as specially around this issue -- especially around this issue, our medical staff is trained to work with them and ensure they seek that help. i can turn it over to ms. mullin who can speak in more detail. >> i would like to acknowledge the first witness panel. the story from the providers and the active-duty servicewomen were compelling, and we thank you for sharing their stories with us. first, two parts.

regarding providers, this committee has been very supportive of increasing behavioral health providers in our system. we acknowledge that is something we are working on and we have been allowing both additional pay and recruitment activities to get more behavioral health providers into our system, military and civilian. second, and a woman going through counseling for either a covered abortion procedure or any contraceptive care is always asked, or should always be asked with a like some additional mental health counseling? thank you. >> we will continue to work together on this. with that, i will yield back. >> the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you so much. many thanks to our panelists today. mr. undersecretary, it is

wonderful to see you again. so proud to see you on the other side of the break us -- of the d ais, and so proud of the work you are doing. thank you for coming to my district last week. i was so bummed to not be there with you. again, thanks to both of you. and, as we heard in the prior panel, the impact is real. the impact of the dobbs decision is profound. and i'm not sure if you caught my own opening remarks, but the day the draft decision was released before the final decision was released, my office received a number of calls from women service members at fort bliss. and the uncertainty that the draft decision brought about was really challenging for us to navigate. it was deeply troubling.

but, i think now that that uncertainty has sunken in for a lot of women in all -- in the dozens of states, it is really going to be critical that we provide as much guidance and information and clarity as possible, because that uncertainty is frightening for women. so, i'd like to ask you all if you could provide specifics on how you will help female service members navigate and understand their rights, understand the information about where they can access care and help. how do we destigmatize this so that women feel like they have the ability to ask these questions, so they are not seeking help outside of their military installations? or not help, but literally information outside of their military installations. really would love to know what

you are doing specifically, but what tools -- piggybacking on what mr. kim mentioned -- what tools do you need from us to really help you with that? we hopefully seek to create better conditions in the future. >> thank you for that question, congresswoman. it's good to see you again as well. unfortunately, we did miss you and el paso -- in el paso but it was great to visit with fort bliss soldiers and visit the people of el paso, so thank you for that. one of the reasons we put out that message on june 28 was to clarify to our service members across the force that despite the dobbs decision, we will continue to perform the covered abortions as we are legally enabled to do, which is in the case of incest, rape, or

endangers the life of the mother. this decision will not affect the health care we provide. we also sent up a second message to our health care providers to let them know despite this decision, they are able to continue to provide the health care that they were able to provide pre-dobbs, and it will not affect them. as long as they are doing their job, performing it in a federal status, which they are because they are working for the u.s. military in a federal installation, that will not affect the job they can perform. we thought it was important to get that out. and we will continue to message with the force. as i said earlier, this dobbs decision was very complex. each state is grading their own laws and policies. so we are looking at how it is affecting us.

we want to make sure that when we come, we are willing, we want to work with the committee, but we want to make sure we are getting it right and taking time to study this before we come to you with asks. >> please count on us, especially this committee under the leadership of chairwoman speier for what you need. we want to make sure we are as helpful to our service members because we are all very concerned about potential recruitment and readiness. thank you. >> the gentlewoman yields back. the gentlewoman from california is recognized. >> thank you to our witnesses, mr. undersecretary, it is great to see you again. in our last panel, we heard that there are not currently enough ob/gyn's in the military health care system to treat every person of reproductive age who would need that care. we also heard there was not

enough to even do the abortions that are currently covered and allowed under law. so, i was wondering what you are doing to make sure that our service members are getting their health care? i'm a young woman myself, and for many years, my ob/gyn was the only doctor i went to. if that is not care available for our service members in military facilities, that is deeply problematic. what are you doing to make sure we have enough ob/gyn's that covered abortions at military facilities will continue uninterrupted, even in states where abortion is being criminalized? and to ensure that those ob/gyn's and military personnel are trained so we can have the full range of contraceptive methods, including iud's? >> thank you, it is good to see you as well. as the secretary stated many

times, taking care of our people is our top priority. part of taking care of our people is ensuring they have access to essential health care. that we are able to provide them, and providing it to them at the best quality health care out there available. it is essential we have our physicians. there are shortages. there's a shortages of doctors nationwide. it is no different in the military. we are doing what we can to make sure that we have access, that every service member when they go out, they are seeking health care that they will get the best quality health care. i can turn it over. >> each are staffed by military and civilian providers. who are able to deliver reproductive care to all of our

men and women. oftentimes, that specialty care they are seeking may not be available at the mts. but the tricare network, a private sector care integrated network across the u.s., they will be able to provide that care in our network. every woman will have that ability to get the care that they need, either the mts or in the network. this week, we have expanded military contraceptive clinics. we've had that a bit across the u.s. with 18. we are now expanding that to all. a woman or man can come up and get counseling and decide what contraceptive they need. >> and would they be able to access iud's and others? >> absolutely, yes. >> with that, i will also state around iud's, as we are currently updating our policy so

that service members and their families will be able to receive those iud's through the tricare health care system without having to pay a co-pay which is currently the thing right now. we are changing our policy, updating it so the co-pay will be eliminated. the other thing i will mention, around contraceptives, currently at our boot camps when women come into boot camp, they do receive a women's health exam where they are asked about contraceptives. are they currently taking them? do they like their current contraceptive? with a prefer an iud? contraceptives, that is women's health care and we want to ensure our service members have access to that health care. >> thank you. with that, i yield back. >> the gentlewoman yields back. the gentleman from california is recognized for five minutes. there are 225 members not

voting. >> including us. thank you, madam chair. i was about to say gil, that would be improper. >> not at all. >> i'm delighted to see you in your position. i'm even more delighted to hear your testimony today. you're taking strong steps not only on this specific issue of abortion but on women's health care. the testimony you have given thus far would indicate you would intend to continue with that. as chairman of the readiness subcommittee, we are deeply concerned about this entire issue of women in the military and the issues surrounding their safety. ms. speier has led us very

adroitly. she's been chairman of the committee, personnel committee in dealing with sexual assault and other issues. we note your desire to deal with that issue also, and thank you for that. and now, we have the abortion issue to even further compound that situation. my concern here is the overall readiness of our military. we do rely increasingly and appropriately on women in the military. i hope that continues. i am concerned that this issue of abortion may cause some women to rethink and to think they should not be in the military. so, my question to you is, i would like to hear your view on do you anticipate the dobbs decision to reduce the readiness of our military? and if so, how might it do and

what should we do if that is the case? >> thank you, congressman. it is a pleasure to see you again. i hope you and your family are doing well. readiness is a big concern of ours. of course, readiness, the individual health care of our service members is readiness, as many other things we take into consideration as the readiness of our force. if they are not healthy, they will not be able to perform their duties. i don't want to set it will affect readiness but it is a concern that we have. as you heard on the last panel, one of the, i think one of the majors said if she was not able to get the abortion when she was -- she probably would not have stayed in the military. retention is also a concern we have. as ms. escobar stated, she has

heard numerous calls from servicewomen. we heard those too from servicewomen who were concerned about how this decision is going to affect them. we are working -- it is essential for the survivability of our force that we become more diverse. women are a big part of that. having a conversation i recently had with the secretary's we need more women to join our navy, and that is essential. and they will make us more inclusive. they will make us more lethal and a better fighting force. and we need them to join our military. we know that this decision is going to have some type of impact, as the major said. they speak proudly of the

military service. they encourage young women to join. and i hope they continue to do that. i know they will because they said they will. to think that some woman might not think twice before joining the military is definitely a concern. >> i would ask that you monitor this, provide the statistical analysis and return to us any information that you might receive and develop on the impact on the dobbs decision. andy 131 -- and the 131 installations and states -- in states that are restricting abortions. with that information, it might provide additional motivation for the congress, particularly

our committees to provide the necessary support that women need. thank you so very much. i yield back. >> the gentleman yields back. the gentlewoman from texas, ms. garcia, is recognized for five minutes. >> welcome, mr. secretary. great to see you. i always remember you as part of our freshman class. we had some good times and now you are on to greener pastures. thank you for your presentation. for us, we know our brave service members have defended our freedoms and as elected members of congress, it is up to us to defend theirs. for women service members, that means the freedom to decide their own health care decisions. my question is sort of a broader question -- i visited some

installations, different branches, including more air force since my family is more air force than anything else. it has always struck me that the services that are provided to service members at the different installations are not always the same. so when it comes to health care, i think it is important there be as much uniformity and as much access as possible let every installation. so, what are we doing to make sure that health care access is comprehensive, but also uniform throughout the installations, particularly in the 131 that have been mentioned by others as being in states that have bans on abortions or some abortion restrictions at some level? >> ma'am, as stated earlier, taking care of our people in the department of defense is our biggest priority. ensuring that they have access

to a quality health care is something that we think about, i think about on a daily basis. we want to ensure all of our service members have access throughout the mts and all over the country and the world that we are legally able to provide. we will continue to do that and ensure that it is granted equally. there will always be instances where there may be a smaller number of service members in one area compared to an area such as san antonio where there's a large number of service members. the access, what's going to be available is going to be greater in those larger areas. in those situations where a servicemember may be serving remotely, they are provided tricare access where they can get health care through tricare to ensure they are still receiving quality health care. i will turn it over to ms. mullen.

>> we have a statutorily defined benefit, which is incredibly very comprehensive. something we are very proud of. second, this week under mr. cisneros' direction, we set up a dedicated women's health page. as we heard, clearly we need to do a better job of disseminating information, communicating, and educating both our beneficiaries, providers, and everybody in the military health care system. we are really hoping this women's health page will be a one-stop shop where a lot of women can go to make sure they can actually know what their benefits are. >> mr. secretary, you mentioned in your opening remarks that you were reviewing all of your policies and that one of them was to ensure that women have to travel, service members have to travel to another state to get

any reproductive health care that they would be able to do so on official status. is that what i heard you say? >> if a servicemember is -- for covered abortions, we will provide transportation costs for that servicemember if for whatever reason they cannot get that where they are currently stationed. we will ensure they get that care and will allow them to travel at cost, as well as provide the procedure for covered abortions. >> will they have to take time off, of their own personal time? >> covered abortions is what is critical. only rape, incest, and life of the mother will they cover the cost. >> for covered abortions, no they will not have to take time off. that will be covered through the department of defense. >> thank you again. i yield back. >> the gentlewoman yields back. there are 97 members who have not yet voted.

i'm going to ask my final questions and we will then close the hearing because mr. gallagher has other commitments as well. i want to thank you again, undersecretary, for being here. i remember you also fondly when you served on this subcommittee as well. there are a couple of things we really need to delve into though. one is a more robust contraception education program within the military. will you commit to building up that contraception education so that military service members know the difference between all the contraception's that are available and the plan b, which is also referred to as the morning-after pill, which sometimes, even on this committee, has been improperly been considered.

>> yes, ma'am. it's a -- my time serving with you fondly on this committee, i think of that very fondly too, so thank you for your kind comments. as i said earlier, currently in the boot camps, we are providing that education with the women's wellness exam. talking to them about contraception's, explaining the different kinds. seeing if they want to change. if they like their current one, whether like to do something different? mullen has also stated, and i will let her talk about this in a minute, but we are moving to allow contraception at our mts. it was being done at 18 and now expanding into all. i think it is essential. as we do that, of course, we need to educate our service members as well. as the types of contraception we can provide, with the difference between an implant such as an

iud versus pharmaceutical contraceptives or emergency contraceptives. yes, i will commit to you that as we expand, we will also expand our education programs around contraceptives. >> if you would just pause for a moment. mr. garamandi has a question. >> mr. secretary, in answer to ms. garcia's question, you indicated that an officer could authorize an expenditure to travel to another state for authorized abortions. some of those authorized abortions appear to be illegal in some states. could the officer be held criminally liable for assisting in the abortion? >> congressman, again, the complexities of this dobbs

decision has created many uncertainties. that is one reason why we are very diligently working with our office of general counsel to examine how each state law might affect what we do within the department of defense. but, currently, the way that it works -- take that back.