Planned Parenthood Action Fund Blasts House for NDAA that Attacks Abortion and Gender-Affirming Health Care

Washington, D.C. — Today, by a slim majority, the U.S. House of Representatives pushed through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with harmful provisions attacking access to essential health care for service members and their families, including abortion and gender-affirming care.

These attacks were once again added as amendments that House Republicans brought to the floor despite bipartisan support for the bill without these dangerous provisions in committee. 

Statement from Alexis McGill Johnson, president, Planned Parenthood Action Fund:   
“It’s like Groundhog Day. Anti-abortion rights House members use must-pass bills as a vehicle to force through their deeply unpopular and dangerous agenda — again and again and again. Everyone deserves access to abortion and gender-affirming care, including service members and their families. But these lawmakers would rather play games with our fundamental rights in their attempt to control our bodies, lives, and futures.”

The NDAA passed by the House would harm service members and their families by:

• reversing the Department of Defense policy to support service members and their families who are forced to travel off base for reproductive health care — including abortion care — that is not covered or offered at their base;
• prohibiting coverage of gender-affirming care through TRICARE, exacerbating the existing impact of discrimination on transgender service members; and
• prohibiting the provision of gender-affirming care through the Exceptional Family Member Program.

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Planned Parenthood Action Fund is an independent, nonpartisan, not-for-profit membership organization formed as the advocacy and political arm of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The Action Fund engages in educational, advocacy, and limited electoral activity, including grassroots organizing, legislative advocacy, and voter education