Did you know that women in the US armed forces are denied access to legal reproductive options?

[marmar]

from the Nation:


BLOG | Posted 05/25/2007 @ 11:31am
EC for Soldiers Too


Did you know that women in the US armed forces are currently denied access to legal reproductive options?

About 350,000 women currently serve in the military, making up about 15 percent of all active-duty personnel. But federal law does little to protect their reproductive rights. Not only are servicewomen banned from accessing abortion care at all military medical facilities, many can't even obtain emergency contraception at their base pharmacy and thus have no effective access to Plan B contraceptives.

Timely access to emergency contraception is important for military women, especially since nearly 3,000 incidents of sexual assault were reported in the military last year-- an approximate 24 percent increase from 2005. Congress has an opportunity to improve health care for women in the military with a bill sponsored by lawmakers in both parties supporting the addition of Plan B to the list of medications that must be stocked at every military health-care facility.

A vote is expected soon and the count is going to be very close. This is an issue that popular opinion really could influence. And it makes eminent sense for Congress to make every effort to reduce unintended pregnancies in the armed forces. So click here to join NARAL Pro-Choice America's campaign to convince Congress to vote in favor of the Compassionate Care for Servicewoman Act.

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow?bid=4&pid=199189

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. You don't understand

women are chattel. They are to be proud to bear the product of rape. And they should be glad to die so that a malformed fetus can live painfully for two hours. :sarcasm:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. considering that a hidden little secret in Iraqnam is the ## of rapes

by US soldiers committed against US female soldiers, this is disgusting.

women go around armed in the green zone for a very good reason.

[ShortnFiery]

3. I don't mean to sound glib, but that's the least of their worries.

I was solicited (and twice even "jumped") a number of occasions when I was first a cadet and later a junior officer in the US Army during the mid 1980s). Believe it or not - I had it EASY! Enlisted women don't have rank or threats ("Sir if you stop now, I will forget everything) to protect themselves from sexual assault.

In the BushBotBorg Army, women are MUCH less respected due to the high value placed on MALE traits of aggressiveness and violence. That is, treatment of all the Military Troops is determined FROM THE TOP on DOWN the Chain of Command (Civilian and Military) Since the top is morally and ethically corrupt to the core, I shudder to think what MUCH (not all - there's always shining lights in the form of Excellent Leaders despite the tone) of the Leadership Character reveals throughout the ranks. :scared: :wow: :scared:

IMO, just the effort at keeping "physically safe" would be challenging for Military Women deployed to the Middle East. :shrug:

May God Bless and look over them because there's seemingly a hell-of-a lot of psycho-sexual disorders (Abu Garab, Git-Mo, etc.) permeating throughout the military ranks today.

BTW, I would advise any woman who is deployed consider *creating a big brother* and tell all the aggressive men in their unit ALL about him. I am blessed with a big brother, former Paratrooper, former retired Captain from a State Penitentiary. Too funny - but effective that I would go "on and on" about how --> my big brother, 14 years my senior, loved his little sister and had many friends, i.e., on both sides of the law. For some reason, that had a chilling effect and I did not receive near as many sexual comments and passes ... especially when I would talk about the "goings on" in the prison system. :wow: ;)

[orleans]

4. argh....3000? what the fuck is going on? when are these "men"

going to get some training on how to be a real man instead of just a bunch of real assholes?