Republicans threaten to deny healthcare for American servicewomen they would have die to protect the country.
Tommy Tuberville Won't Promote Hundreds of Military Members Because He's Mad About Abortion. Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville (Ala.) is holding up military appointments because he’s mad about abortion. Yes, the former Auburn football coach-turned-legislator isn’t supporting the troops because he’s mad that the Pentagon is providing support for military members who need abortions. - Jezebel
Where are the military installations? Which states have banned abortions? Where would servicewomen be hurt the most? Who are the Republicans Senators? How do you contact them? How do you register to vote? Start with this free dashboard.
Republicans take healthcare for servicewomen hostage
Playing politics with national security
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) hold on over 160 Pentagon nominees over abortion policies could have an impact on U.S. military readiness.
Tuberville has held up civilian and flag officer nominations over Defense Department policies on abortion, a move that forces the Democrat-controlled Senate to consider and vote on each nomination rather than approving them in batches. Kirby said Tuberville’s block comes “at a time when we are still trying to support Ukraine, while we’re still facing challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.”
His comments echo Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday, who said there will be “powerful effects” on military readiness if Tuberville continues to hold up the nominees." - The Hill
Sexual assaults on young servicewomen on the rise
"Sexual assaults against female troops have increased by 44% since 2016, with the highest increase affecting junior enlisted servicemembers, according to a Pentagon report.
"The U.S. military provides health coverage for members of the Armed Forces and their families through the Department of Defense’s military health system. By federal statute, however, the Department of Defense is barred from providing coverage for abortion care except when a pregnant woman’s life is endangered. The ban provides no exception for cases of rape and incest. Tragically, servicewomen are denied this critical care in an Armed Forces where sexual assault is at crisis levels – when a woman joins the military, her risk of being sexually assaulted doubles." - War is Boring
No exception for cases of rape and incest
Military women confront an additional barrier to abortion access when serving overseas. In addition to banning military health insurance from covering abortion care, federal law prohibits military treatment facilities from providing abortion services to women even when patients pre-pay the entire cost of the procedure with their own private funds... imposes grave health risks and leaves servicewomen and their families far worse off than civilian women. For example, a servicewoman who is prohibited from accessing abortion services on a military base may have to resort to local facilities in foreign countries that are substandard or unsafe.
In other words, servicewomen and military families are singled out as the one group that Congress has shown the least regard for. - ACLU
Storytelling for justice
How do you explain the Republican hypocrisy involved? How do you direct readers to a call to action such as calling their Republican Senator to stop jeopardizing national security for their political agenda? Encourage them to register to vote?
DemLabs created a map of 272 military installations with ArcGIS Online using publicly available data from the Department of Defense.
This was overlaid with the states that ban abortion.
The map includes details on the Senators (supposed to be) representing the interests of the people in that state and how to contact them with one click.
A link to more information on Tuberville's blockage and how to register to vote is in the side panel.
A GIF was created to explain the Republican action.
TakeAway: Speak up against Republicans playing politics with national security and dishonoring the sacrifice that American servicewomen make by holding their healthcare hostage.
Deepak
DemLabs
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Credits: Image military recruitment ad. Special thanks to Julia Bayer for help with this map.