The directive signed this week eliminates a rarely used Biden administration policy enacted in October 2022, after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and more states began to impose increased abortion restrictions.
Signed on Wednesday by Jeffrey Register, the director of the Pentagon's human resources department, the memo simply shows red lines crossing out the previous regulation and offers no other guidance.
Asked if service members would still be allowed time off to travel at their own expense, the department had no immediate answer.
Under federal law, Defense Department medical facilities can perform abortions only when the life of the pregnant person is at risk or in cases of rape or incest, and those instances have been extremely rare. According to the department, there were 91 abortions performed in military medical facilities between 2016 and 2021.
