VIDEO: Access to reproductive health care crucial for women military service members
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NEW YORK — Access to reproductive health care is a significant issue for many women in the military and women veterans, Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, MD, MPH, told Healio at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting.
“Many military women are stationed ... in states where access to abortion and IVF is becoming increasingly restricted,” Ritchie, chair of psychiatry at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, said.
Although the military can reimburse eligible service members for their travel expenses to access these treatments, limited data suggest that few women have taken advantage of that option, she added.
“One of my big concerns, and we’ve seen this historically, is that women will carry the pregnancy to term because they don’t have a choice or don’t realize there is a choice,” Ritchie said.