S.Amdt. 5852

SA 5852. Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Carper, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Markey, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Sanders, Mr. King, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Heinrich, Mrs. Feinstein, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Wyden, Ms. Hassan, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Hickenlooper, Ms. Warren, Mr. Booker, and Mr. Bennet) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 5499 submitted by Mr. Reed (for himself and Mr. Inhofe) and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 7900, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2023 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle C of title VI, add the following:

SEC. 624. LEAVE RELATING TO ABORTION CARE AND SERVICES FOR MEMBERS OF ARMED FORCES.

(a) In General.--Section 701 of title 10, United States Code, as amended by section 623(a), is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(n)(1)(A) Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, a member of the armed forces who seeks abortion care and services is allowed convalescent leave.

“(B) Convalescent leave under subparagraph (A) shall, not later than 5 days after receiving a request for such leave, be approved by--

“(i) the military medical health provider of the member; or

“(ii) the commander of the military medical treatment facility or a designee of that commander.

“(C) Convalescent leave of a member under subparagraph (A) shall be approved for a period of--

“(i) 10 days, in the case of a member assigned to a duty location in the continental United States; and

“(ii) 20 days, in the case of a member assigned to a duty location outside the continental United States.

“(D) Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, a member taking convalescent leave under subparagraph (A) who is required to travel more than 50 miles from the member's assigned duty location to seek abortion care and services--

“(i) shall be entitled to standard travel and transportation allowances in accordance with chapter 8 of title 37; and

“(ii) may not receive per diem or reimbursement of expenses, to the extent prohibited by Federal law.

“(E) The applicable approval authority under clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (B)--

“(i) shall notify the commanding officer of the member taking convalescent leave under subparagraph (A) with respect to--

“(I) expected absences of the member; and

“(II) changes in the physical profile of the member that would impact the member's fitness for duty; and

“(ii) may not be required to disclose the specific medical condition from which the member is convalescing.

“(F) Convalescent leave of a member seeking abortion care and services that is in addition to the convalescent leave provided under subparagraph (A) shall be provided under the procedures established for convalescent leave under subsection (m).

“(2)(A) Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary concerned shall grant a member of the armed forces leave to provide care to an immediate family member who seeks abortion care and services.

“(B) Not later than 5 days after receiving a request from a member to take leave under subparagraph (A), the appropriate approval authority of the member shall approve the request, consistent with the regulations prescribed under subparagraph (A).

“(C) Leave under subparagraph (A) shall be approved for a period of 10 consecutive days.

“(3) A member taking leave under paragraph (1) or (2) shall not have the member's leave account reduced as a result of taking such leave.

“(4) A member may elect to take fewer days of leave than is provided for under paragraph (1) or (2), as applicable.

“(5) A member taking leave under paragraph (1) or (2) may not be required to disclose specifics relating to the abortion care and services that are the basis for the leave.

“(6) In this subsection, the term ‘military medical treatment facility' means a facility described in subsection (b), (c), or (d) of section 1073d.”.

(b) Conforming Amendments.--Subsection (m) of section 701 of title 10, United States Code, as added by section 623(a), is amended--

(1) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by or “or (n)(1)” after “subsection (h)(3)”;

(2) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking “in conjunction with the birth of a child” and inserting “or (n)(1)”; and

(3) in paragraph (3)(B)(ii), by inserting “or (n)(1)” after “subsection (h)(3)”.

(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take effect on January 1, 2023.