,i  #aafth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #gchc  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,june #bf1 #bjbj,ms4 
,brownley of ,california introduced the 
following bill2 which was referred to   
the ,committee on ,armed ,services1 and 
in addition to the ,committee on        
,veterans' ,affairs1 for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the ,speaker1
 in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the           
jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
,a ,,bill  ,to direct the ,comptroller  
,general of the ,united ,states to      
conduct a study regarding women         
involuntarily separated or discharged   
from the ,armed ,forces due to pregnancy
 or parenthood1 and for other purposes4 
#a4 ,findings ,congress finds the       
following3 7#a7 ,in ,june #aidh1        
,congress enacted the ,women's ,armed   
,services ,integration ,act of #aidh1   
which formally authorized the           
appointment and enlistment of women in  
the regular components of the ,armed    

,forces4  7#b7 ,with the expansion of   
the ,armed ,forces to include women1 the
 possibility arose for the first time   
that members of the regular components  
of the ,armed ,forces could become      
pregnant4  7#c7 ,the response to such   
possibilities and actualities was       
,executive ,order #ajbdj1 signed by     
,president ,harry ,s4 ,truman in #aiea1 
which granted the ,armed ,forces the    
authority to involuntarily separate or  
discharge a woman if she became         
pregnant1 gave birth to a child1 or     
became a parent by adoption or a        
stepparent4  7#d7 ,the ,armed ,forces   
responded to the ,executive order by    
systematically discharging any woman in 
the ,armed ,forces who became pregnant1 
regardless of whether the pregnancy was 
planned1 unplanned1 or the result of    
sexual abuse4  7#e7 ,although the ,armed
 ,forces were required to offer women   
who were involuntarily separated or     
discharged due to pregnancy the         
opportunity to request retention in the 

military1 many such women were not      
offered such opportunity4  7#f7 ,the    
,armed ,forces did not provide required 
separation benefits1 counseling1 or     
assistance to the members of the ,armed 
,forces who were separated or discharged
 due to pregnancy4  7#g7 ,thousands of  
members of the ,armed ,forces were      
involuntarily separated or discharged   
from the ,armed ,forces as a result of  
pregnancy4  7#h7 ,there are reports that
 the practice of the ,armed ,forces to  
systematically separate or discharge    
pregnant members caused some such       
members to seek an unsafe or            
inaccessible abortion1 which was not    
legal at the time1 or to put their      
children up for adoption1 and that1 in  
some cases1 some women died by suicide  
following their involuntary separation  
or discharge from the ,armed ,forces4   
7#i7 ,such involuntary separation or    
discharge from the ,armed ,forces on the
 basis of pregnancy was challenged in   
,federal district court by ,stephanie   

,crawford in #aige1 whose legal argument
 stated that this practice violated her 
constitutional right to due process of  
law4  7#aj7 ,the ,court of ,appeals for 
the ,second ,circuit ruled in ,stephanie
 ,crawford's favor in #aigf and found   
that ,executive ,order #ajbdj and any   
regulations relating to the ,armed      
,forces that made separation or         
discharge mandatory due to pregnancy    
were unconstitutional4  7#aa7 ,by #aigf1
 all regulations that permitted         
involuntary separation or discharge of a
 member of the ,armed ,forces because of
 pregnancy or any form of parenthood    
were rescinded4  7#ab7 ,today1 women    
comprise #ag percent of the ,armed      
,forces1 and many are parents1 including
 #ab percent of whom are single parents4
  7#ac7 ,while military parents face    
many hardships1 today's ,armed ,forces  
provides various lengths of paid family 
leave for mothers and fathers1 for both 
birth and adoption of children4  #b4    
,sense of ,congress  7a7 ,sense of      

,congress ,it is the sense of ,congress 
that women who served in the ,armed     
,forces before ,february #bc1 #aigf1    
should not have been involuntarily      
separated or discharged due to pregnancy
 or parenthood4  7b7 ,expression of     
remorse ,congress hereby expresses deep 
remorse for the women who patriotically 
served in the ,armed ,forces1 but were  
forced1 by official ,united ,states     
policy1 to endure unnecessary and       
discriminatory actions1 including the   
violation of their constitutional right 
to due process of law1 simply because   
they became pregnant or became a parent 
while a member of the ,armed ,forces4   
#c4 ,,gao study of women involuntarily  
separated or discharged due to pregnancy
 or parenthood  7a7 ,study required ,not
 later than ,september #cj1 #bjba1 the  
,comptroller ,general of the ,united    
,states shall conduct a study regarding 
women involuntarily separated or        
discharged from the ,armed ,forces due  
to pregnancy or parenthood during the   

period of #aiea through #aigf4 ,the     
study shall identify-- 7#a7 the number  
of such women1 disaggregated by-- 7,a7  
,armed ,force2  7,b7 grade2  7,c7 race2 
and  7,d7 ethnicity2  7#b7 the          
characters of such discharges or        
separations2  7#c7 discrepancies in     
uniformity of such discharges or        
separations2  7#d7 how such discharges  
or separations affected access of such  
women to health care and benefits       
through the ,department of ,veterans    
,affairs2 and  7#e7 recommendations for 
improving access of such women to       
resources through the ,department of    
,veterans ,affairs4  7b7 ,report ,not   
later than #cj days after completing the
 study under subsection 7a71 the        
,comptroller ,general shall submit to   
,congress a report containing the       
results of that study4