Sec. 530. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING WOMEN INVOLUNTARILY SEPARATED FROM THE ARMED FORCES DUE TO PREGNANCY OR PARENTHOOD

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## SEC. 530 SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING WOMEN INVOLUNTARILY SEPARATED FROM THE ARMED FORCES DUE TO PREGNANCY OR PARENTHOOD ###

(a)Findings Congress finds the following: ####

(1)In June 1948, Congress enacted the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act of 1948, which formally authorized the appointment and enlistment of women in the regular components of the Armed Forces. ####

(2)With the expansion of the Armed Forces to include women, the possibility arose for the first time that members of the regular components of the Armed Forces could become pregnant. ####

(3)The response to such possibilities and actualities was Executive Order 10240, signed by President Harry S. Truman in 1951, which granted the Armed Forces the authority to involuntarily separate or discharge a woman if she became pregnant, gave birth to a child, or became a parent by adoption or a stepparent. ####

(4)The Armed Forces responded to the Executive order by systematically discharging any woman in the Armed Forces who became pregnant. ####

(5)The Armed Forces were required to offer women who were involuntarily separated or discharged due to pregnancy the opportunity to request retention in the military. ####

(6)The Armed Forces may not have provided required separation benefits, counseling, or assistance to the members of the Armed Forces who were separated or discharged due to pregnancy. ####

(7)Thousands of members of the Armed Forces were involuntarily separated or discharged from the Armed Forces as a result of pregnancy. ####

(8)Such involuntary separation or discharge from the Armed Forces on the basis of pregnancy was challenged in Federal district court by Stephanie Crawford in 1975, whose legal argument stated that this practice violated her constitutional right to due process of law. ####

(9)The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in Stephanie Crawford’s favor in 1976 and found that Executive Order 10240 and any regulations relating to the Armed Forces that made separation or discharge mandatory due to pregnancy were unconstitutional. ####

(10)By 1976, all regulations that permitted involuntary separation or discharge of a member of the Armed Forces because of pregnancy or any form of parenthood were rescinded. ####

(11)Today, women comprise 17 percent of the Armed Forces, and many are parents, including 12 percent of whom are single parents. ####

(12)While military parents face many hardships, today’s Armed Forces provide various lengths of paid family leave for mothers and fathers, for both birth and adoption of children. ###

(b)Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that women who served in the Armed Forces before February 23, 1976, should not have been involuntarily separated or discharged due to pregnancy or parenthood. ## Subtitle D Recruitment and Retention

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EO 10240

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Sec. 530

SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING WOMEN INVOLUNTARILY SEPARATED FROM THE ARMED FORCES DUE TO PREGNANCY OR PARENTHOOD

Exec. Ord.EO 10240

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