Protecting Service Members and Military Families’ Access to Reproductive Care Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1610 To authorize administrative absences and travel and transportation allowances for members of the Armed Forces to travel to obtain reproductive health care. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 16, 2023 Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. FETTERMAN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. KING, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. WARREN, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. WELCH, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. CARPER, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BENNET, Mr. KELLY, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. BROWN, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. SMITH, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. HEINRICH, Ms. CANTWELL, and Ms. CORTEZ MASTO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To authorize administrative absences and travel and trans- portation allowances for members of the Armed Forces to travel to obtain reproductive health care. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Service 4 Members and Military Families’ Access to Reproductive 5 Care Act of 2023’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1610.IS S1610 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1610 IS SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE ABSENCES 1 AND TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION ALLOW- 2 ANCES FOR REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE. 3 (a) LEAVES OF ABSENCE.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 40 of title 10, 5 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 6 section 708 the following new section: 7 ‘‘§ 708a. Reproductive health administrative absence 8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Under such regulations as the 9 Secretary of Defense may prescribe, the Secretary shall 10 grant an administrative absence to a member of the 11 Armed Forces who requests such an absence— 12 ‘‘(1) to receive non-covered reproductive health 13 care; or 14 ‘‘(2) to accompany a spouse or other dependent 15 who receives non-covered reproductive health care. 16 ‘‘(b) DURATION.—An administrative absence granted 17 under subsection (a) pursuant to a request made under 18 that subsection may extend for a period of not more than 19 21 days for each such request. 20 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR REGULATIONS.—The regu- 21 lations prescribed under subsection (a) shall provide 22 that— 23 ‘‘(1) no additional requirement, including con- 24 sultations with a chaplain, medical testing, or any 25 other form of counseling, may be imposed on a 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1610.IS S1610 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1610 IS member requesting an administrative absence under 1 subsection (a) by the Secretary or the commander or 2 other approval authority of the member; and 3 ‘‘(2) the Secretary and the commander or other 4 approval authority of a member shall prioritize the 5 privacy of the member (and the spouse or other de- 6 pendent of the member, if applicable), consistent 7 with applicable statutes and regulations governing 8 protected medical information. 9 ‘‘(d) NON-COVERED REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE 10 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘non-covered repro- 11 ductive health care’ means reproductive health care not 12 authorized to be performed at a medical treatment facility 13 or other facility of the Department of Defense consistent 14 with Federal law, including— 15 ‘‘(1) an abortion; or 16 ‘‘(2) assisted reproductive technology, includ- 17 ing— 18 ‘‘(A) ovarian stimulation and egg retrieval, 19 including any needed medications and proce- 20 dures required for retrieval, processing, and uti- 21 lization of an egg for assisted reproductive tech- 22 nology or cryopreservation; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1610.IS S1610 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1610 IS ‘‘(B) sperm collection and processing for 1 assisted reproductive technology or 2 cryopreservation; 3 ‘‘(C) intrauterine insemination; and 4 ‘‘(D) in vitro fertilization, including— 5 ‘‘(i) in vitro fertilization with fresh 6 embryo transfer; 7 ‘‘(ii) gamete intrafallopian transfer; 8 ‘‘(iii) zygote intrafollopian transfer; 9 ‘‘(iv) pronuclear stage tubal transfer; 10 ‘‘(v) tubal embryo transfer; and 11 ‘‘(vi) frozen embryo transfer.’’. 12 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- 13 tions at the beginning of chapter 40 of such title is 14 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec- 15 tion 708 the following new item: 16 ‘‘708a. Reproductive health administrative absence.’’. (b) AUTHORIZATION OF TRAVEL AND TRANSPOR- 17 TATION ALLOWANCES.—Section 452(b) of title 37, United 18 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 19 lowing new paragraph: 20 ‘‘(24) Travel by a member or a dependent to re- 21 ceive non-covered reproductive health care (as de- 22 fined in section 708a(d) of title 10), including an 23 abortion and assisted reproductive technology.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1610.IS S1610 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1610 IS (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 1 tion or an amendment made by this section may be con- 2 strued to restrict or deprive a member of the Armed 3 Forces from accessing or being granted convalescent leave 4 consistent with section 701 of title 10, United States 5 Code. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1610.IS S1610 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB