What Military Personnel Policies Could Change Under President Trump

When President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January, he may quickly reverse military policies regarding abortion and transgender service members, though recent pushes in Congress to improve military pay and quality of life will likely continue, according to a leading national security expert.

First up might be a policy put in place in 2022 by Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III that provides paid leave and reimburses transportation costs for troops who travel out-of-state for an abortion and other reproductive care such as in vitro fertilization, though the service members pay for the actual health care service themselves.

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The policy, however, was bound by two laws, explained Katherine Kuzminski, Deputy Director of Studies at the Center for a New American Security. The first, Section 1093 of Title 10 of U.S. Code, prohibits abortions from being performed on military bases except in cases of rape, incest, or when the mother’s life is in danger. The second is the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funds from being used to pay for abortions.

“That’s how this travel policy came about, which is ‘we’ll pay for your travel if you’re in a state that doesn’t allow abortion’,” Kuzminski explained. But cementing that policy with a law would have required an act of Congress, a tall order given the political debate around the issue.

“This was a DOD pronouncement through the administration, it wasn’t anything that was solidified in law,” she explained. “It lacked permanence.”

Read the full article and more on Air & Space Forces Magazine.