Jackson Amendment to NDAA

House votes to prohibit DOD abortion travel funding

Friday, 7/14/2023, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2670, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, by a vote of 219-210.

Thursday, 7/13/2023, The House passed the Jackson Amendment, 221-213.

Amendment #5 Summary: The amendment clarifies that 10 U.S.C. § 1093 prevents the Department of Defense (DOD) from using any funds for elective abortion. Therefore, (1) the DOD Secretary has no legal authority to implement funding for elective abortion and (2) the DOD memo, ‘‘Ensuring Access to Reproductive Health Care,” is unlawful and must be rescinded. The amendment then repeals the DOD memo and prohibits funds from being used to implement it or a successor memorandum. It also amends federal law to prohibit DOD from paying for health care professionals to gain a license in a State for the purpose of providing abortions.

Background: Federal law (10 U.S.C. § 1093) prevents DOD funding from being used to perform elective abortions and prohibits DOD facilities from being used to provide abortions. On October 20, 2022, the Secretary of Defense issued a memorandum directing the DOD to pay the travel and transportation costs for military members and dependents to travel to obtain elective abortions. This memorandum violates the law because the prohibition against funding abortion includes any cost required by the abortion. Funding the travel expenses required to access an abortion is funding the abortion.

Amendment Text, PDF — Floor Debate

The amendment was supported by 220 Republicans and by Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX). It was opposed by 211 Democrats and Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and John Duarte (R-CA).