You would think that providing comprehensive health care—including, yes, abortion—to women in the military would be a no-brainer. After all, they're willing to die in service to their country; the least—the very least—we could do for them is make sure all of their health care needs are covered.

But that would make you a radical abortion-loving lefty feminist socialist. Or Colin Powell:



General Colin Powell, USA (Ret.), the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the 65th United States Secretary of State, joined a letter today with dozens of military leaders urging Congressional support for an amendment introduced by U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) that would allow the Department of Defense to cover the cost of abortions for servicewomen who are survivors of rape and incest. The letter was sent to the Chairman and Ranking Member in the Senate and House Armed Services Committees.

Right now, military women who are victims of rape and become pregnant and choose to have an abortion must pay for it out of their own pockets. That's because their health plan doesn't cover it, which is the way the forced-birther crowd would love to keep things. Health insurance for civilian employees of the federal government and for Medicaid recipients covers abortion services when pregnancy is a consequence of rape. If you work for the State Department and are raped, you're covered. If you're in the Army, too bad for you.

We were therefore greatly disappointed to learn that, by federal statute, the Department of Defense is barred from providing insurance coverage for abortion except where a pregnant woman’s life is endangered. Unlike other current federal restrictions on abortion coverage, the military ban provides no exception for cases of rape and incest. The current policy is unfair and must be changed. [...] We stand ready to work with you, and other members of Congress, to ensure that the Shaheen Amendment becomes law this year. Our servicewomen deserve nothing less.

The Shaheen Amendment, as Meteor Blades explained , is "really a simple matter of fairness and justice." So of course the forced birthers in Congress have a problem with it, and have blocked all prior attempts in the name of the the holy fetus. So instead of fairness and justice:That's why it's nice to see Powell and his fellow military leaders make it clear where they stand, and it's with women—not with the anti-woman activists in Congress who think our servicewomen don't deserve health care:Our servicewomen deserve nothing less. Damn straight.

Email your member of the House of Representatives, telling him or her to pass the Stand With Servicewomen Act.