Jailtime for pregnant soldiers? The Army has made getting pregnant a punishable offense

[Bjorn Against]

Jailtime For Pregnant Soldiers? The Army Has Made Getting Pregnant a Punishable Offense

Posted by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress at 11:00 AM on December 21, 2009.

Major General Anthony Cucolo, who is responsible for operations in northern Iraq, has issued a controversial new policy -- which went into effect on Nov. 4 -- that allows throwing women servicemembers on active duty in jail if they become pregnant:

Under the new policy, troops expecting a baby face court martial and a possible prison term -- and so do the men who made them pregnant.

And the rule applies to married couples at war together, who are expected to make sure their love lives do not interfere with duty.

snip

Additionally, it's unclear what will happen to a woman who is raped and becomes pregnant. She would technically be eligible for jailtime, but if she is unable to identify her attacker(s), they may go free. Rape and other forms of sexual assault are severe problems in the military. In May, the Pentagon reported that it had "received 2,923 reports of sexual assault across the military in the 12 months ending Sept. 30 2008. That’s about a 9 percent increase over the totals reported the year before, but only a fraction of the crimes presumably being committed."

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/world/144714/jailtime_for_pregnant_soldiers_the_army_has_made_getting_pregnant_a_punishable_offense/

[leftstreet]

1. Are pregnancy rates high in the military?

:shrug:

I don't understand this

[TheDebbieDee]

14. During war time, some females soldiers decide to avoid

or shorten their deployment to a hot zone by getting pregnant. It happened during the Persian Gulf War and apparently it is happening often enough now for a General to come out and tell females to "Cut it out!"

[Lyric]

21. And your evidence for this is?

How could anyone know why or how a woman gets pregnant? Why assume that those women did it on purpose with malicious intentions? How do you "prove" such an awful, sexist accusation?

I think this has more to do with the fact that military volunteers are incredibly scarce during this unjust war and they're desperate to retain every single one that's currently enlisted. There's no need to offer broad-brush, deeply derogatory conjectures that you cannot possibly prove, in order to explain it.

[TheDebbieDee]

25. September 1991 I was in the Army and stationed at

Munson Army Community Hospital at Ft. Leavenworth, KS. Of course, the build-up and deployment of US troops in Saudi Arabia in preparation of an invasion into Kuwait was the topic of every conversation on post. A Stop-Loss was in effect and no one was able to ETS from the Army until further notice. Rumor had it that the MEDDAC was prepping a list of Medical Specialists to deploy to the Replacement Detachment in SW Asia.

One of the young female medics was literally panic-stricken in the hallways of the barracks every evening. She swore up and down that she would get pregnant before she could be deployed. By December, she was pregnant. (I remember thinking "This war might last 6 months or a year, but a baby lasts a lifetime.") By January, three other young residents of the medical barracks were pregnant, too.

I was deployed in February, 1991. I'm not saying I had to deploy because these young ladies got pregnant, (My MOS was different. I was Med Supply, they were Medics.) I'm just saying that some people get scared enough or tired enough to do some really desperate things.

Experience is the broad-brush that I paint with. And I'll thank you not to tell me what I know!

[Thothmes]

22. Also not uncommon for female sailors getting ready to deploy

on Naval vessels. Remember during the 80s, the tenders have a problem prior to their deployments. Some of those ships lost up to 20 percent of their first term female crew memebers to pregnancy within six months of a deployment date.

[Lyric]

2. Is there an exception for rape?

I'd hope that there would be, but with the military, you never know.

[Bjorn Against]

4. There is no exception written in...

The article says it is possible that the woman could have to serve jail time if she is impregnated from rape.

[Lyric]

6. Oh dear god.

:banghead:

How stupid can they be? Seriously?

[Lars39]

19. Probably shackled, too.

arg

[jaxx]

15. Looks like there is an exception.

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/12/21/women-military-pregnant/

Update ThinkProgress received a copy of Cucolo's full general order, in which he makes clear that cases of sexual assault that result in pregnancy will not be covered under the new policy:

To ensure a consistent and measured approach in applying this policy, I am the only individual who passes judgment on these cases. I decide every case based on the unique facts of each Soldier's situation. Of the very few cases handled thus far, it has been a male Soldier who received the most severe punishment; he committed adultery as well. Though there have not been any cases of sexual assault, any pregnancy that is the product of a sexual assault would most certainly not be considered here; our total focus would be on the health and well-being of the victim and justice for the perpetrator.

[havocmom]

17. Command would have to recognize that rape happens

They don't seem interested in doing that, the bastards.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

3. Long ago an idiot friend of mine knocked up his mistress (he was married) when he was in basic.

To this day we refer to it as his "dishonorable discharge." They both got kicked out, but no charges were brought.

[gardenista]

5. Good times, good times!

Holy fuck that's a bunch of asshattery. Hope there was no "issue" from that union.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

7. Well... let me put it this way.

He's the only person I've ever known who had two women pregnant at the same time. Devout Christian, of course. I believe my exact quote upon hearing that he'd got his wife pregnant (after the dishonorable discharge) was "You fucking asshole."

[gardenista]

8. Yikes, sounds like an old boyfriend of mine.

We won't go there....

:P

[JonQ]

9. They're punishing both

so it seems fair in that regard.

[Bjorn Against]

11. They always know who the mother is, they don't always know the father

The woman will be the only one punished unless she tells them who the father is.

Also the fact that a woman could potentially be jailed if she is impregnated by rape doesn't exactly seem fair.

[JonQ]

13. Paternity tests could be ordered

you don't have many rights in the military.

And I would be very surprised if this were implemented in rape cases.

[Bjorn Against]

20. If they don't know who the father is then who are they going to order a paternity test on?

You can't do a paternity test without a blood sample from the suspected father, if they don't have any reasonable suspicion of who the father is they can't get a blood sample from him.

[BamaGirl]

10. As a former soldier (93-96)

(and my husband is a First Sgt) I am just completely stunned by this. Pregnancy happens, especially around deployments, and not because you're trying to get out of it but because, hello! Getting deployed! No sex for a year! It's an inevitable consequence lol. ;)

I'd comment on the rape comment in that article, but I'd just get myself in trouble.

[Cid_B]

16. I believe this applies to Soldiers downrange...

and not to Soldiers back in the rear.

[BamaGirl]

18. The problem with that

is once you know you're going, you get held to those standards. It's a policy that has far reaching and ugly possibilities.

[Warpy]

12. This is clearly insane

as is expecting single parents to serve in a war zone while their children are still young. The military in this country didn't do this in WWII when our backs were against the wall. That they are doing it now clearly shows that a lot of Bush's upper command needs to be replaced.

Pregnancy is a biological function and we don't have 100% infallible birth control.

Somebody please fire the idiot who designed this policy. He's been in the patriarchal middle east for far too long to think clearly.

[Obamanaut]

23. More discussion here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=7266470

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=7257822

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=7269899

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=7282786

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=7288786&mesg_id=7288786

[grahamhgreen]

24. What if it's immaculate conception?

[Ignis]

26. Oh, this part is rich:

..."married couples at war together, who are expected to make sure their love lives do not interfere with duty."

How do the Dominionists square this with their duty to spawn? :D