A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
For women in the military, the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs decision has made the process of seeking an abortion much more complicated, especially as state laws continue to change. Steve Walsh from WHRO in Norfolk, Va., has been gathering stories from women across the country who have been impacted.
Steve, now, you reached out to dozens of current and former women in the military, many of whom have had abortions while they were serving. Why were they hesitant to talk?
STEVE WALSH, BYLINE: Well, it took a long time to build trust. Several women compared their experience to an Underground Railroad of military women helping one another. One woman I talked to, Air Force Staff Sergeant Octavia James (ph), invited a fellow airman to stay at her apartment in Norfolk, Va. She says people often seek her out when they don't feel comfortable going to their command.
OCTAVIA JAMES: Every person's different. Everybody recovers different, everybody needs different things after, and everybody's seeking an abortion for a different reason. So I can't tell you what's best for you. But if you need me, I'm here.
WALSH: Forty percent of women in the military are now stationed in states with strict abortion laws. You have to think about their situation. Most women considering abortion are younger. They're not free to leave whenever they want. They may have been at that base for only a few weeks and have very little connection to their surrounding community, so they may reach out to a buddy stationed in another part of the country where there are fewer restrictions.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, is the Dobbs ruling the only thing for women serving in the military that's a barrier for trying to get an abortion?
WALSH: No. There's something called the Hyde Amendment. It's been inserted into the defense spending bills Congress approved for decades before Dobbs. The law only allows military doctors to perform abortions in the case of rape, incest or where the life of the mother is at stake. The Hyde Amendment also seems to create a confusion among military providers over what they can do or even say when it comes to abortion. I talked with Andrea Ward-Wiley. In 2017, she worked as a nurse at a clinic at Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada. Young sailors would approach her with questions about abortion. Here's what she told me.
ANDREA WARD-WILEY: I remember one of them was crying really hard. And then a lot of them just sort of wanted information, sort of flat affect. They were just, I think, in shell shock.
WALSH: She couldn't find answers at her Navy clinic, so Ward-Wiley created her own spreadsheet that included the names of civilian providers and the cost. One officer told me her military doctor felt pressure to clock out before helping her because of the Hyde Amendment. And again, all of this was before the Dobbs decision.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, after Dobbs in 2022, the Pentagon created a policy that allowed extra leave and paid travel for women who sought an abortion outside of the military. So how well is that working?
WALSH: Only 12 women used the program in the first seven months, according to the Pentagon. Advocates say it's a good first step, but they also worry that it's not been promoted enough. The policy has also drawn critics. Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama held up all top military appointments for months in protest. There's a great deal of stigma surrounding abortion. I talked with one airman who had an abortion just after Dobbs while stationed in North Dakota. NPR agreed to withhold her name because she feared the decision could follow her.
UNIDENTIFIED AIRMAN: It's so different being a female in the military compared to males. If people would've found out, I for sure would have been looked at very differently.
WALSH: And, A, many women I talked to said that all these restrictions now make the process complicated and impractical. Women now have to travel hundreds of miles to arrange care on their own, not to mention the cost. A procedure can cost a month's pay for a junior sailor. I should add Pentagon officials that I talked to just referred me to existing guidelines.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. That's Steve Walsh with member station WHRO in Norfolk, Va. Steve, thanks.
WALSH: Thanks, A.
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