[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2385 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2385
To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a
study regarding women involuntarily separated or discharged from the
Armed Forces due to pregnancy or parenthood, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 8, 2021
Ms. Brownley (for herself, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mrs.
Hayes, and Ms. Houlahan) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a
study regarding women involuntarily separated or discharged from the
Armed Forces due to pregnancy or parenthood, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Justice for Women Veterans Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) In June 1948, Congress enacted the Women's Armed
Services Integration Act of 1948, which formally authorized the
appointment and enlistment of women in the regular components
of the Armed Forces.
(2) With the expansion of the Armed Forces to include
women, the possibility arose for the first time that members of
the regular components of the Armed Forces could become
pregnant.
(3) The response to such possibilities and actualities was
Executive Order 10240, signed by President Harry S. Truman in
1951, which granted the Armed Forces the authority to
involuntarily separate or discharge a woman if she became
pregnant, gave birth to a child, or became a parent by adoption
or a stepparent.
(4) The Armed Forces responded to the Executive order by
systematically discharging any woman in the Armed Forces who
became pregnant, regardless of whether the pregnancy was
planned, unplanned, or the result of sexual abuse.
(5) Although the Armed Forces were required to offer women
who were involuntarily separated or discharged due to pregnancy
the opportunity to request retention in the military, many such
women were not offered such opportunity.
(6) The Armed Forces did not provide required separation
benefits, counseling, or assistance to the members of the Armed
Forces who were separated or discharged due to pregnancy.
(7) Thousands of members of the Armed Forces were
involuntarily separated or discharged from the Armed Forces as
a result of pregnancy.
(8) There are reports that the practice of the Armed Forces
to systematically separate or discharge pregnant members caused
some such members to seek an unsafe or inaccessible abortion,
which was not legal at the time, or to put their children up
for adoption, and that, in some cases, some women died by
suicide following their involuntary separation or discharge
from the Armed Forces.
(9) Such involuntary separation or discharge from the Armed
Forces on the basis of pregnancy was challenged in Federal
district court by Stephanie Crawford in 1975, whose legal
argument stated that this practice violated her constitutional
right to due process of law.
(10) The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in
Stephanie Crawford's favor in 1976 and found that Executive
Order 10240 and any regulations relating to the Armed Forces
that made separation or discharge mandatory due to pregnancy
were unconstitutional.
(11) By 1976, all regulations that permitted involuntary
separation or discharge of a member of the Armed Forces because
of pregnancy or any form of parenthood were rescinded.
(12) Today, women comprise 17 percent of the Armed Forces,
and many are parents, including 12 percent of whom are single
parents.
(13) While military parents face many hardships, today's
Armed Forces provides various lengths of paid family leave for
mothers and fathers. for both birth and adoption of children.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that women who
served in the Armed Forces before February 23, 1976 should not have
been involuntarily separated or discharged due to pregnancy or
parenthood.
(b) Expression of Remorse.--Congress hereby expresses deep remorse
for the women who patriotically served in the Armed Forces, but were
forced, by official United States policy, to endure unnecessary and
discriminatory actions, including the violation of their constitutional
right to due process of law, simply because they became pregnant or
became a parent while a member of the Armed Forces.
SEC. 4. GAO STUDY OF WOMEN INVOLUNTARILY SEPARATED OR DISCHARGED DUE TO
PREGNANCY OR PARENTHOOD.
(a) Study Required.--Not later than September 30, 2021, the
Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study
regarding women involuntarily separated or discharged from the Armed
Forces due to pregnancy or parenthood during the period of 1951 through
1976. The study shall identify--
(1) the number of such women, disaggregated by--
(A) Armed Force;
(B) grade;
(C) race; and
(D) ethnicity;
(2) the characters of such discharges or separations;
(3) discrepancies in uniformity of such discharges or
separations;
(4) how such discharges or separations affected access of
such women to health care and benefits through the Department
of Veterans Affairs; and
(5) recommendations for improving access of such women to
resources through the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(b) Report.--Not later than 30 days after completing the study
under subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall submit to Congress
a report containing the results of that study.
<all>