The current Pentagon regime is not shy about meddling in political dustups while at the same time often failing to accomplish what it is mandated by Congress to do. Such is the case with the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade contrasting with Congress’s mandate to care for military members seeking mental health care. In the first case, the Defense Department is attempting to circumvent the SCOTUS determination – which is not its job – while failing to implement the Brandon Act, codifying Congress’s legislation ensuring military members’ confidentiality in seeking mental health services – which is its job.
“Nothing is more important to me or to this Department than the health and well-being of our Service members, the civilian workforce and DOD families…The Department is examining this decision closely and evaluating our policies to ensure we continue to provide seamless access to reproductive health care as permitted by federal law,” stated Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in an immediate press release following the announcement of the SCOTUS decision.
Isn’t taking care of the health and well-being of service members important? Why should that be a problem? It’s because the catchphrase “seamless access to reproductive health care,” which an uninitiated might think means ensuring women in the military are cared for to ensure healthy pregnancies and births, but it doesn’t mean that, of course. It means easy access to abortions. It is the political rallying cry of pro-abortion advocates. What Austin is doing is embracing a political narrative as some national security imperative. It is not. And the truth is the Defense Department is in no different a situation after Dobbs than before the SCOTUS decision. The Hyde Amendment, named for its sponsor Congressman Henry J. Hyde (R-IL), mandates:
“No funds authorized or appropriated by Federal law, and none of the funds in any trust fund to which funds are authorized or appropriated by Federal law, shall be expended for any abortion…The limitations established in sections 301 shall not apply to an abortion if the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest; or in the case where a woman suffers from a physical injury, or physical illness, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by the pregnancy itself.”
The Hyde Amendment, passed in 1976 and renewed every year since, covers the Defense Department as a federally funded agency. Nothing has changed in this regard. What has changed is the inclination for Biden’s Pentagon to pander to the radical left – in effect, adopting a political position. However, while cozying up to the pro-abortion constituency, Pentagon leadership is failing to embrace legislation passed by Congress six months ago. The Brandon Act was named for US Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Brandon Caserta, 21 years old, who took his life in 2018. “The US military has not yet put a six-month-old federal law designed to improve how service members get mental health care into effect, despite a recent rash of suicides in the Navy,” Melissa Chan wrote for NBC News.
(Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images)
When asked about the inordinate amount of time having elapsed since the mental health measure passed, the Navy told Representative Seth Moulton (D-MA) that it would be another two months to establish an implementation policy. Moulton lamented he was “baffled” it has taken so long since – Chan reports – “military health experts and those who work to reduce suicides in the services, particularly as a cluster of suicides on the same Navy ship earlier this year sparked concerns of a mental health crisis.” The ship referred to is the USS George Washington, a Nimitz class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier on which five suicides took place in the last year.
The issue many believe at the bottom of the spate of suicides, not just in the Navy but across the armed forces, is the stigma associated with seeking psychological help. Working in a highly charged environment while executing the combat mission is stressful. Many do not want to be labeled as having mental problems. But without such intervention, personal issues grow to where they seem insurmountable, and taking one’s life sadly becomes an option. The Brandon Act reduces and, in many cases, eliminates the stigma of seeking professional mental help.
The Department of Defense has an enormous and nearly incomprehensibly complex mission. Successful accomplishment of that mission requires setting priorities. Striving to achieve a work environment conducive to warfighters’ mental stability is undoubtedly high on the list. Parroting the pro-abortion political crowd’s talking points is not.
The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliation.
