US Military to Punish Pregnancy whilst deployed

[Tyburn]

(Dec. 20) -- Members of the U.S. military who become pregnant while serving in northern Iraq now face the possibility of a court-martial or jail time, Stars and Stripes newspaper reports.

Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo III, who oversees the area that includes Kirkuk, Tikrit, Mosul and Samarra, set a policy in place last month that makes pregnancy a punishable offense.

The rule applies to anyone who becomes pregnant or impregnates another service member, even if they are married.

Standard military policy calls for a pregnant soldier to be removed from the battle area within two weeks.

The northern Iraq policy, which was reviewed by military attorneys, takes that a step farther.

"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," Army spokesman Maj. Lee Peters told the newspaper.

The policy has drawn fierce criticism. Eugene Fidell, who teaches military law at Yale Law School, told London's Daily Mail newspaper that it poses serious ethical questions.

"Here you really have issues that go to the core of personal integrity: reproductive rights," he said.

Cucolo has defended the policy, calling it a "black and white issue."

"I've got a mission to do," he said. "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."

[Tyburn]

What next? punish the Soldier who has to be withdrawn for injury...because he also needs to be replaced.

Its not like the US Military dont have the man-power, talk about the top brass being lazy. Too much effort to replace soldiers, thats what it boils down to.

This is the worst thing ive seen from them since that Bible banning affaire. This area is not something the Military should ever have any jurisdiction over. Period.

Nothing wrong with that. If you're deployed, don't get pregnant. It's not like an injury. You can prevent pregnancy with simple precautions. No reason to get pregnant while deployed.

[NateR]

Good, on every deployment that I've been on, sex is unauthorized between service members. It's simply not what you are there for. Thus, a woman getting pregnant is proof of her disobeying a direct order.

Obviously the woman's jail time should be reduced if she identifies the man who had sex with her so that he can be punished under UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) as well.

Also, the whole pregnancy has been an "easy-out" of deployments for women since I've been enlisted. I spent 7 months in Bosnia and we had a couple of girls get pregnant just so they could go home. It's never been punished as a crime before, but it should be.

[Tyburn]

you cant have the military dictating when you can and can not reproduce.

its a basic human right

What would you say if your Government did something like that to you? China already does.

[VCURamFan]

Originally Posted by Tyburn

What next? punish the Soldier who has to be withdrawn for injury...because he also needs to be replaced.

Its not like the US Military dont have the man-power, talk about the top brass being lazy. Too much effort to replace soldiers, thats what it boils down to.

This is the worst thing ive seen from them since that Bible banning affaire. This area is not something the Military should ever have any jurisdiction over. Period.

Dave, don't be asinine. We do not have unlimited man-power because we're a volunteer-only force & on top of that, Obama's cutting military funding left & right, yet still expecting our armed forces to perform the same tasks.

You're technically not supposed to even be having sex during deployment, let alone getting pregnant. This isn't unreasonable for a high-rick war zone. It's a simple enough solution: keep it in your pants. It's not like their being forbidden form ever having kids, or like the powers that be are threatening to court-martial women for having periods or something. They are restricting an arbitrary action in a war zone.

I've got no problem with this.

Good!! They are there to serve the country not servicemen and most of em are married!! It's about time they do something!

[Tyburn]

Originally Posted by VCURamFan

Dave, don't be asinine. We do not have unlimited man-power because we're a volunteer-only force & on top of that, Obama's cutting military funding left & right, yet still expecting our armed forces to perform the same tasks.

No you have plenty of people, money, and resources, if you want to look at a country which is REALLY over stretched on all three, why not look to your closest allies. When you dont have basic safety equipment for you soldiers, or enough transportation by half...

Not to mention...we're funding this all from an area of land not much bigger then the State of California...and we dont do National Service neither. Really, you are in a FAR better position.

Of course you shouldnt be getting pregnant out there...but you can hardly send someone to jail for getting pregnant...thats absolutely riddiculous.

Originally Posted by Tyburn

No you have plenty of people, money, and resources, if you want to look at a country which is REALLY over stretched on all three, why not look to your closest allies. When you dont have basic safety equipment for you soldiers, or enough transportation by half...

Not to mention...we're funding this all from an area of land not much bigger then the State of California...and we dont do National Service neither. Really, you are in a FAR better position.

Of course you shouldnt be getting pregnant out there...but you can hardly send someone to jail for getting pregnant...thats absolutely riddiculous.

Dave they would be jailed for disobeying the USMJ codes of conduct. Just like a Soldier/Marine/Sailor/Airmen who goes MIA..Those codes of conduct were implemented for a reason it's a slap in the face to the personnel who actually follow it for these crimes to go unpunished.

[NateR]

If a male can be prosecuted for shooting himself in the foot in a combat zone, then a woman should be prosecuted for allowing herself to get pregnant in a combat zone.

This is not about reproductive rights, Dave. Since husbands and wives are rarely deployed to the same combat zone. And if these people are married and having sex with people who aren't their spouses in a war zone, then that it a huge problem as well. I think the military is one of the only organizations left that still punishes adultery as a crime.

This is about a woman who has sex with men in a war zone for the purpose of getting pregnant so she can be sent home. That's not right.