The Army’s top general said that the service branch will attempt to accommodate soldiers and recruits who want to avoid serving in states that have placed restrictions on abortion access.
Chief of staff Gen. James McConville said in an interview with Defense One published on Wednesday that soldiers or recruits will be able to request a deployment to a state with legal abortion, but that it won’t be a rubber-stamp process.
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“We do have options where a soldier can say, ‘Hey, I want to serve in Alaska,’ and if we can meet those preferences, we will actually do that. But as far as, ‘I’m only going to serve in these states’ or ‘I’m going to do that.’ … It’s a contract … and if we can make it work, we’ll try to make it work for them.”
When asked directly, he added: “We try to make sure that we’re taking care of soldiers, and at the same time if we can meet their preferences while taking care of them, of where they might want to serve, and we have a job that meets their skill set, then that’s certainly a consideration.”
The general also said he was not facing any pressure from Capitol Hill for specific policy decisions.
McConville’s comments come in light of the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, which defined abortion access in the United States for almost five decades. A number of red states have already passed anti-abortion legislation.
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The Department of Veterans Affairs announced plans to offer abortion access in cases of rape, incest, or if the health of the mother is in jeopardy to veterans or eligible dependents, which reflects the Defense Department’s current policy under federal law.
All of this is taking place as each of the service branches is experiencing a shortage of troops with the expectation of not reaching end-of-year goals. Military leaders have attributed the decrease to a variety of factors, including a smaller percentage of people who are eligible to serve without a waiver, the coronavirus pandemic (which they say is hurting their recruiting efforts), and limited exposure.
