Abortion Fight Heats up in Defense Budget Debate

Jessica Kenyon was applying to become an officer in the Army and had just earned her spurs when she found out she was pregnant.Little did the now 30-year-old realize that her military career would be short-lived. Kenyon, who was sexually assaulted by another servicemember, was denied an abortion at the military hospital in North Korea where she was stationed. Instead, she was told her only option would be to find a facility in Seoul or leave the country."You don't speak the language. You don't necessarily know how clean everything is, so you don't want to get sick," she recalls. At military bases, "they absolutely will not do it at all, no matter what, except for the health of the mother."

Under current law, only those women whose lives are endangered can get an abortion at military hospitals. Victims of rape and incest aren't entitled to federal funds for abortion services, even though other beneficiaries of government health care, like prisoners and Medicaid recipients, are.Abortion rights supporters are hoping to capitalize on the ongoing defense budget debate to build momentum for a provision that would allow servicemembers who are victims of rape and incest to get an abortion at military hospitals.A number of Senate Democrats, led by New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, will officially introduce the MARCH -- Military Access to Reproductive Care and Health -- Act today, following on the heels of a similar House bill that was announced last week.