Context of 'December 16, 2009: Congress Bans Funding of Abortions for Military Personnel'

The Justice Department’s Patrick Philbin sends a classified memo to Attorney General John Ashcroft. The memo’s contents will not be divulged, but the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) will later learn that it regards Ashcroft’s review of the Terrorist Surveillance Program (TSP—see March 2002). [American Civil Liberties Union [PDF], 1/28/2009 ] The memo contains a legal review by Ashcroft of President Bush’s order authorizing the TSP, the Bush administration’s name for its warrantless wiretapping program. The review is requested before one of the 45-day reauthorizations by the president as required by law. [ProPublica, 4/16/2009]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), in partnership with the Center for Constitutional Rights, Physicians for Human Rights, Veterans for Common Sense, and Veterans for Peace, file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records concerning the treatment of prisoners and detainees in US custody abroad, most specifically Iraq and Afghanistan. The request is the first spark in a firestorm of legal controversies, FOIA requests, government denials, and lawsuits, as the ACLU and its partners continue to attempt to squeeze documentation out of an uncooperative administration. Although the government will continue to withhold key records, ongoing litigation results in the eventual release of over 100,000 documents, which will be used by ACLU lawyers Jameel Jaffer and Amrit Singh to compile the book Administration of Torture (see October 22, 2007), which will show that detainees have been (and will be) systematically tortured and abused under the orders of senior government officials. [Union, 10/7/2003; American Civil Liberties Union, 10/22/2007]

The American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights organizations submit a second Freedom of Information Act request to the Departments of Defense, Justice, State, Homeland Security, and the CIA. [Amended Complaint for Injunctive Relief. ACLU, et al. v. Department of Defense, et al., 7/6/2004 ]

The American Civil Liberties Union reports that recent changes to Congressional funding of military services now denies abortions to servicewomen in any instance except in the case of a threat to the mother’s life. The newly enacted ban denies funds for abortions to any woman on active or reserve duty. It also bans abortions from being performed in military treatment facilities, even if the woman is willing to pay for the procedure herself, except in the case of rape or incest. [American Civil Liberties Union, 12/16/2009]