Pregnant Servicewomen Now Face Jail Time

**twitchy2.0** · December 21st, 2009, 03:18 PM

Pregnant Servicewomen Now Face Jail Time

In what may be the worst military reproductive rights policy yet (and there's a lot of competition), one general has decided that soldiers under his command can be court-martialed and jailed for getting pregnant.

The Army announced Friday that soldiers under Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo, who commands forces in northern Iraq, would be subject to prosecution if they became pregnant. Male soldiers who impregnate female service members could also be court-martialed. The rule is apparently aimed at reducing attrition, since pregnant soldiers are usually sent home within 14 days. Army spokesman Maj. Lee Peters says, "The redeployment of the pregnant soldier creates a void in the unit and has a negative impact on the unit's ability to accomplish its mission. Another soldier must assume the pregnant soldier's responsibilities." And Cucolo himself adds,

I've got a mission to do. I'm given a finite number of soldiers with which to do it and I need every one of them. So I'm going to take every measure I can to keep them all strong, fit and with me for the twelve months we are in the combat zone.

But as military law professor Eugene Fidell points out, "Here you really have issues that go to the core of personal integrity: reproductive rights." In addition to the basic issue of whether pregnancy should ever be a criminal offense, the policy has a number of upsetting implications. Enforcement will likely disproportionately affect women, as it's much easier to tell who's pregnant than who impregnated her. And there's no apparent provision for women who are raped. Add this to the fact that military bases aren't required to provide emergency contraception, and that abortions are banned at military hospitals, and you have an environment where women are both forced to remain pregnant and punished for doing so.

Of course, the solution the military would like to encourage is total abstinence for all service members. Cucolo's policy also prohibits soldiers from having sex with Iraqis, or from spending the night with a member of the opposite sex unless married or granted explicit permission. But across-the-board abstinence is just as unrealistic for soldiers as it is for anyone else, and the military might want to provide reliable access to birth control and, yes, to abortion if it really wants to encourage responsible family planning among soldiers. Another way to lessen military attrition, ThinkProgress points out, would be to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. But for now, sex in the military is only okay if you keep it a secret — because apparently a few horrific amateur abortions and the loss of thousands of gay service members are a small price to pay for the illusion of purity.
Source: Pregnant Servicewomen Now Face Jail Time - Pregnant soldiers - Jezebel

**sputnik** · December 21st, 2009, 03:22 PM

Enforcement will likely disproportionately affect women, as it's much easier to tell who's pregnant than who impregnated her. And there's no apparent provision for women who are raped. Add this to the fact that military bases aren't required to provide emergency contraception, and that abortions are banned at military hospitals, and you have an environment where women are both forced to remain pregnant and punished for doing so.

fucked up. but then i never understood people who joined the army anyway. who the hell wants to follow orders for a living, for shit pay and no respect and where they push crap like these rules on you. it boggles the mind.

**Beeyotch** · December 21st, 2009, 03:33 PM

Hey, no disagreement that this policy is bullshit and anti-women but I wouldn't necessarily make those assumptions about service people. Some people are actually born to do it, it suits them just fine and they're good at it. Some people are inherently "cogs," it doesn't have to be a bad thing, I wouldn't even say it erases their individuality. And even if it's not a great fit, it can still be a constructive experience for many people.

I aim my disparaging attitude about the military toward the higher-ups who make these ridiculous decisions as if military service people were actually cogs, inanimate and expendable, instead of human beings.

**Just Kill Me** · December 21st, 2009, 07:22 PM

I would not doubt some people are getting pregnant to get out of shit while being in the service. Our wars are out of control and people are being called up after they've done their duty; it's fucked.

**Mel1973** · December 21st, 2009, 07:23 PM

I always thought I should have been a drill sargeant. the thing is, I'd have had to go to basic training and I know my ass wouldn't have made it...

**sputnik** · December 21st, 2009, 07:32 PM

Originally Posted by Beeyotch

Hey, no disagreement that this policy is bullshit and anti-women but I wouldn't necessarily make those assumptions about service people. Some people are actually born to do it, it suits them just fine and they're good at it. Some people are inherently "cogs," it doesn't have to be a bad thing, I wouldn't even say it erases their individuality. And even if it's not a great fit, it can still be a constructive experience for many people.

I aim my disparaging attitude about the military toward the higher-ups who make these ridiculous decisions as if military service people were actually cogs, inanimate and expendable, instead of human beings.

i know. i guess it's just one of tjose things - like religion - that i just can't relate to or understand in any way.
Posted from my iPhone

**celeb_2006** · December 21st, 2009, 08:45 PM

Allow me to be devil's advocate.
What if women soldiers are deliberately getting pregnant just to avoid time in theater? It happens on naval ships, and I'm sure it happens in the theater of war. That means you are that much less a person, and it creates resentment in the unit. Males who get women pregnant are also punishable.

**crumpet** · December 22nd, 2009, 09:33 AM

Originally Posted by celeb_2006

Allow me to be devil's advocate.
What if women soldiers are deliberately getting pregnant just to avoid time in theater? It happens on naval ships, and I'm sure it happens in the theater of war. That means you are that much less a person, and it creates resentment in the unit. Males who get women pregnant are also punishable.

See, that is the point for me that makes this not really about sexism, assuming they really follow through with the males in the situation. I've heard some people on another site say it's laughable to think a woman would ever get pregnant on purpose to avoid their responsiblity to the military since motherhood is so much of a bigger responsibility. Bullshit to that, because plenty of people would still prefer being at home with their own baby to dodging bullets in a war zone. Not even comparable, really.

**sputnik** · December 22nd, 2009, 09:58 AM

Originally Posted by crumpet

See, that is the point for me that makes this not really about sexism, assuming they really follow through with the males in the situation.

would it be so hard to provide emergency contraceptives and abortions?

**Mel1973** · December 22nd, 2009, 10:04 AM

Originally Posted by sputnik

would it be so hard to provide emergency contraceptives and abortions?

I would think contraceptives are available. As for abortions, I could just see the headlines claiming that "we were forced to get abortions"... and I'm sure the armed service sees the same thing.

**crumpet** · December 22nd, 2009, 10:26 AM

Originally Posted by sputnik

would it be so hard to provide emergency contraceptives and abortions?

Absolutely, and if they aren't doing that they certainly should.

**Moongirl** · December 22nd, 2009, 05:07 PM

MSNBC.com
General: No trials of pregnant soldiers in Iraq
He backs off pregnancy ban, but urges troops to ‘think before they act’
msnbc.com staff and news service reports
updated 1:38 p.m. PT, Tues., Dec . 22, 2009

BAGHDAD - A U.S. general in Iraq who listed pregnancy as a reason for court-martialing soldiers said Tuesday that he would never actually seek to jail someone over the offense, but wanted to underline the seriousness of the issue.

Last month, Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo issued a policy that would allow soldiers who become pregnant and their sexual partners to be court-martialed. But he appeared to back away from the policy in a conference call with reporters, saying the policy was intended to emphasize the problems created when pregnant soldiers go home and leave behind a weaker unit.

"I have never considered court-martial for this, I do not ever see myself putting a soldier in jail for this," said Cucolo, who oversees U.S. forces in northern Iraq. But since pregnant women automatically go home, their units are left short-staffed, he said.

"I need every soldier I've got," Cucolo said. "I need them for the entire duration of this deployment."

Cucolo commands a task force of 22,000 soldiers, which oversees northern Iraq, including cities such as Tikrit, Kirkuk and Mosul. He said he has 1,682 female soldiers.

As soon as the military knows a soldier is pregnant, she is immediately sent home.

Redeployed if pregnant
"If you are a pregnant female in a combat zone, you are redeployed, period. That is actually not my call, that is just what we do," he said.

Cucolo is believed to be the first to make the pregnancy an offense that could be dealt with by court-martial — for both the man and the woman. The ruling only applies to troops under his command. He said women who are raped would not be subject to this order.

"I have to accomplish a very complex mission," he said. "I'm going to do what it takes to maintain our strength."

Cucolo's order outlines some 20 barred activities. Most of them are aimed at keeping order and preventing criminal activity, such as selling a weapon or taking drugs.

Troops also are prohibited from "sexual contact of any kind" with Iraqi nationals. And, they cannot spend the night with a member of the opposite sex, unless married or expressly permitted to do so.

The general said he consulted with a number of women in his unit before coming up with the policy and all supported it. He also consulted with his unit's lawyer.

"It's a very difficult issue because pregnancy does impede readiness," said Genevieve Chase, the founder of American Women Veterans, an organization designed to help female veterans. "Enforcing the rule of this is what's going to be difficult."

Chase said she was especially concerned about holding both males and females responsible.

Chase also said there is already a heavy stigma on women who get pregnant in the battlefield.

"Every time a female does get pregnant there's that automatic assumption, that you're trying to get out of the deployment," she said.

7 soldiers reprimanded
The general said that since his Nov. 4 policy went into effect, four women and three men have been found in violation of it.

The women and two of the men received letters of reprimand that will not become part of their permanent record, the general said. The third man would receive a letter of reprimand in his file — a more serious punishment — because he was also found guilty of offenses including adultery.

All the women were sent home.

One of the female soldiers declined to say who impregnated her and the unit “let it drop,” Cucolo told Stars and Stripes, adding that he had no plans to further investigate paternity.

“I’m in a war zone,” he said. “I don’t have time for that.”

“I can’t tell you how valuable my female soldiers are,” Cucolo said. “They fly helicopters. They run satellites. They’re mechanics. They’re medics. Some of the best intelligence analysts I have happen to be female.”

“Please think before you act,” he added in a plea to his troops.

No other units in Iraq have similar rules, Stars and Stripes said, citing military officials. A spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan said no pregnancy ban is in place there.

Military officials say the order was issued because Army policy requires the force to remove a pregnant soldier from a war zone within 14 days of learning of the pregnancy, creating a hole in a unit that makes it more difficult to complete its mission.

Col. David S. Thompson, the inspector general for all soldiers in Iraq, has called the ban "a lawful order."

Thompson, who has served 29 of the past 39 months in Iraq as an inspector general, told Stars and Stripes that it’s the first time he can recall pregnancy being prohibited.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
URL: General: No trials of pregnant soldiers in Iraq - Military- msnbc.com
MSN Privacy . Legal
© 2009 MSNBC.com

I can kinda see his point; if you are sigining up for military duty, shouldn't you be willing to postpone pregnancy, especially if you are within a combat zone?

**Janet296** · December 22nd, 2009, 05:22 PM

I served in the army for 14 years. There were several times during my stint that we went to combat. Believe me it was no secret that the only way you could get out of going was death or pregnancy. You can't be in a combat zone if you are pregnant. It is the fastest way to get out of there or the army for that matter. I know most of you are thinking that this is an excuse to penalize women and they wouldn't do this. As a former NCO I can tell you...THEY DO!!!! Think about it, you get over there and it's a scary awful place. Some women will do what it takes to get out fast. The quickest way to leave a combat zone....drum roll please....is to get pregnant. I can assume that this started because they had too many women leaving due to pregnancy.

**celeb_2006** · December 22nd, 2009, 06:44 PM

Originally Posted by Janet296

I served in the army for 14 years. There were several times during my stint that we went to combat. Believe me it was no secret that the only way you could get out of going was death or pregnancy. You can't be in a combat zone if you are pregnant. It is the fastest way to get out of there or the army for that matter. I know most of you are thinking that this is an excuse to penalize women and they wouldn't do this. As a former NCO I can tell you...THEY DO!!!! Think about it, you get over there and it's a scary awful place. Some women will do what it takes to get out fast. The quickest way to leave a combat zone....drum roll please....is to get pregnant. I can assume that this started because they had too many women leaving due to pregnancy.

I don't doubt it happens, and I don't see why people shouldn't be held accountable for doing something entirely preventable.

Really, the military, especially in a war zone, is an entirely different animal than civilian life, so the excuse that "people will have sex anyways" just doesn't cut it. The military is voluntary, you sign up for it, you abide by the rules. I personally have no problems from an outside perspective banning service people from sexual relations with Iraqis or amongst themselves (the military even allows overnight stays with permission). In that sort of environment you don't need that kind of drama. I could see a general or staff getting upset if people are deliberately getting pregnant to avoid a combat zone.

**xXull** · December 24th, 2009, 05:08 AM

I definitely agree to no sex with Iraqi's not because of racism but doesn't that mean the iraqi and child can obtain american citizen ship as well as other complications?I think two people in the military can get it on with eachother, but why don't they make women take the depo shot or something?Or hell, something that lowers the sex drive so everyone can get there and go to work. They didn't join the military to have sex, and men aren't able to leave for getting a woman knocked up.With that said I wouldn't of minded if that was the trade off. Women can leave, they just leave for jail. Men on the other hand have to stay behind and don't have some get out for free card.