Kelly Joins Colleagues in Urging Pentagon to Ensure Service Members and Dependents’ Access to Contraception

Lawmakers: “Expanding access to contraception is critical to meeting the needs of service members, as well as recruiting and retaining members of our Armed Forces.”

Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) joined 11 of his Democratic colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) in a letter to Secretary Austin urging the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to implement policies previously mandated by Congress that would expand access to contraception for service members.  

“We write to urge the Department of Defense (DoD) to take additional action to ensure service members and their dependents can access their contraceptive of choice,” wrote the Senators. “In 2022, 18.3 percent of active duty service women reported that they were unable to access their preferred birth control method from the Military Health Service. As Congress continues to seek to address this issue, including by working to pass the Access to Contraception for Service Members and Dependents Act, we respectfully request an update on the DoD’s efforts to implement policies previously mandated by Congress that would expand access to contraception for service members.”   

“Expanding access to contraception is critical to meeting the needs of service members, as well as recruiting and retaining members of our Armed Forces,” the Senators continued. “We look forward to learning more about the barriers preventing the Department from implementing provisions mandated by Congress to protect and expand service members’ access to contraception and contraceptive counseling.”   

Other signers on the letter include Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Jack Reed (D-RI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Angus King (I-ME) and Gary Peters (D-MI).  

In the letter, the Senators call on DoD to comply with the FY 2016 NDAA by revising its pre-deployment form to allow service members to indicate if they would like to receive contraception counseling and include information on the full range of contraceptive methods, as well as implement the provisions included in the FY 2016 and FY 2017 NDAAs to expand access to contraception for service members.  

Read the full text of the letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd James Austin here.