Pregnant Women and Combat

[Linus]

I got into a debate with K's father over this and he seemed to think that this scenario made sense but to me, it doesn't.

I was curious as to what others thought of this ruling and it's reversal. For those unaware a few weeks ago, a general (man) put in a ruling that if any female soldier got pregnant while in Iraq (whether by another soldier or by a citizen) she'd be court martialed from the US Armed Forces. Additionally, if it was a member of the US Armed Forces, then he'd get court martialed as well. Never mind that 1 in 3 will get assaulted by their fellow soldiers -- far less than the civilian rate of 1 in 6 women getting assaulted. And that since many (I can only go on the blogs/news reports I found which cite this) are assaulted by superior officers and force them to be quiet (http://www.alternet.org/asoldierspeaks/46294/) or are charged for not doing their duty because of fear of being assaulted.

Now, what I found interesting and discriminatory is that if a male soldier got a citizen pregnant, then there would be no issue because he can't get pregnant (but he can get AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases).

I'm glad they canceled it but it, to me, shows outright discrimination on the part of the military service. There has to be other ways to address these kinds of situations other than outright stripping of rank. This kind of ruling will cause even fewer women who are assaulted and get pregnant from speaking up, IMO.

US cancels controversial Iraq pregnancy rules


(AFP) – 1 day ago


BAGHDAD — The US army has cancelled controversial rules that punish soldiers in north Iraq who fall pregnant or who impregnate a female soldier, an American military spokeswoman said on Saturday.


The decision follows concern that the provisions put in place by Major General Anthony Cucolo, commander of US forces in north Iraq, could lead to some soldiers being court-martialed.


"In the normal course of standing up United States Forces-Iraq (USF-I), a review of all existing orders and policies of several commands has been underway," First Lieutenant Elizabeth Feste said in an e-mail.


"The updated USF-I policy does not include a pregnancy provision.
"Additionally, all requests by subordinate units to impose further restrictions of activities ... will require approval of the USF-I Commander."
US troops currently operate under the command of Multi-National Forces-Iraq, but this will be changed effective January 1, 2010 to reflect the fact that no other countries have troops stationed in the country.
As a result, the command will be called USF-I.


Under Cucolo's rules, which unleashed a fiery debate, violators were threatened with criminal charges or even a court-martial. They applied both to women who fall pregnant and men who impregnate female soldiers, even if the couple is married.


The Pentagon had said that a commander can impose such rules to personnel under his command.


Cucolo defended his decision as a means to help guard against the loss of valuable female soldiers. US troops are sent back home if they become pregnant. Cucolo currently commands around 22,000 soldiers in northern Iraq, about 1,700 of whom are women.


The United States, which currently maintains a military force of some 115,000 in Iraq, plans to reduce its footprint to 50,000 by the end of August ahead of a full withdrawal of all troops by the end of 2011.