Posted on Feb 11, 2016
Unplanned pregnancies may be on rise in military - CNN.com
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There is no bias' in the writing of this piece, it's a fact that pregnancy is an issue for women. It's a fact that pregnancy is preventable and cannot be compared to other readiness problems such as illnesses or injuries.
This issue is at the forefront of discussion with the newly implemented policy of allowing women into combat arms making this a very valid issue to discuss.
Some units during recent large scale deployments cited an non deployable rate women to be as high as 30% of the assigned females. The units with the highest numbers were mainly support units with a high concentration of female soldiers, making a huge impact on the unit's readiness.
This highlights the fact that pregnancy does affect readiness.
Readiness is defined as, "The nation's ability to have the right forces in the right place at the right time to fight the war"
Unplanned pregnancies in the military are 50% higher than in the civilian population. There is no way around the fact that this affects military readiness, morale, and health.
Reasons cited for the unplanned pregnancies are:
1. Women said they had not expected to have sex.
2. They had felt unable to initiate a conversation with a medical provider because of policy prohibiting sex during deployment.
3. They didn't have access to contraceptives during deployment.
4. The contraceptive of their choice wasn't available during deployment.
5. The pill were delayed in being received because of transportation issues.
6. The method they chose failed (the pill or condom).
7. Sexual assault
To try to offset the rise in pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases leadership implemented SHARP, made contraceptives available free of charge, released information to increase knowledge about long acting reversible contraceptives in the hopes of decreasing unplanned pregnancy. Policies have been issued to allow female personnel additional time to acquire contraceptives before deploying should they choose to do so. Numerous programs, policies, and structures exist to stem this phenomena. Leadership has provided programs necessary for educating it's male and female personnel but it is up to the person to take the responsibility upon themselves to ensure their readiness and the readiness of their unit.
This issue is at the forefront of discussion with the newly implemented policy of allowing women into combat arms making this a very valid issue to discuss.
Some units during recent large scale deployments cited an non deployable rate women to be as high as 30% of the assigned females. The units with the highest numbers were mainly support units with a high concentration of female soldiers, making a huge impact on the unit's readiness.
This highlights the fact that pregnancy does affect readiness.
Readiness is defined as, "The nation's ability to have the right forces in the right place at the right time to fight the war"
Unplanned pregnancies in the military are 50% higher than in the civilian population. There is no way around the fact that this affects military readiness, morale, and health.
Reasons cited for the unplanned pregnancies are:
1. Women said they had not expected to have sex.
2. They had felt unable to initiate a conversation with a medical provider because of policy prohibiting sex during deployment.
3. They didn't have access to contraceptives during deployment.
4. The contraceptive of their choice wasn't available during deployment.
5. The pill were delayed in being received because of transportation issues.
6. The method they chose failed (the pill or condom).
7. Sexual assault
To try to offset the rise in pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases leadership implemented SHARP, made contraceptives available free of charge, released information to increase knowledge about long acting reversible contraceptives in the hopes of decreasing unplanned pregnancy. Policies have been issued to allow female personnel additional time to acquire contraceptives before deploying should they choose to do so. Numerous programs, policies, and structures exist to stem this phenomena. Leadership has provided programs necessary for educating it's male and female personnel but it is up to the person to take the responsibility upon themselves to ensure their readiness and the readiness of their unit.
Unplanned pregnancies may be on rise in military - CNN.com
Posted from cnn.com
Readiness
Pregnancy
Leadership
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 8
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Personal responsibility goes a long way, but you also cannot force people to be responsible or adhere to policies in place to prevent these sorts of things. 4, maybe 5 of the reasons listed in the article referred to women becoming pregnant while on deployment... we all know it happens, sometimes intentionally. Due to lack of professionalism, self control and personal responsibility, I suspect we will see those numbers/percentages increase in coming years.
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Capt Lance Gallardo
Out of fairness to women in the Military and now (or soon to be in the) combat arms and female firefighters I offer these thoughts from a female firefighter with respect to a woman's rights to Pregnancy leave and to assert her rights to a reasonable accommodation from her fire department or agency: What the law says
There are several significant laws and court decisions that affect how pregnancy can and should be addressed in the workplace.
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 (PDA) is an amendment to Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The PDA expands the definition of sex discrimination to include discrimination based on pregnancy and childbirth.
This law states: "Women affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions shall be treated the same for all employment related purposes … as other persons not so affected but similar in their ability or inability to work."
The PDA guarantees pregnant women access to benefits already in place for other workers. This law applies to all employers with 15 or more employees, as well as employment agencies and labor organizations.
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 guarantees 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year to employees for the purpose of caring for a newborn, newly adopted, or seriously ill child. This leave can also be used for personal medical conditions or for the care of other family members under some conditions.
Employers must continue health benefits during this leave and must reinstate the worker to the original position or its equivalent upon the employee's return to work. This law is gender-neutral — men and women must be given equal consideration.
California Federal Savings & Loan v. Guerra U. S. Supreme Court 1987. This decision clarified the intention of the PDA. By 1987, a number of states had passed laws that provided more benefits for pregnant workers than just the minimum guaranteed by the PDA.
In California, one of these laws was challenged as being a violation of the PDA. The U.S. Supreme Court stated in its decision that the intention of the PDA was to "construct a floor beneath which pregnancy benefits may not drop, not a ceiling above which they may not rise." Therefore, additional benefits specifically for pregnancy are legal.
UAW v. Johnson Controls U.S. Supreme Court 1991. This court decision challenged the concept of fetal protection policies. Although the defendant was a lead battery manufacturer, the principle of the case applies to the fire service as well.
This decision invalidated policies that are strictly to protect fetuses in the workplace when their mothers are otherwise able to work. The court wrote: "Decisions about the welfare of future children must be left to the parents who conceive, bear, support and raise them rather than the employers who hire those parents…."
This decision means that fire departments cannot force a woman to go to an alternate-duty assignment if she is otherwise able to work just based on fear of harm to the fetus she is carrying.
Implications of the law to the fire service
These four legal points have significance in how every fire department should deal with firefighter pregnancy. Specifically:
Fire departments must treat pregnant workers at least as well as they treat workers with off-duty injuries or illnesses that affect their ability to work.
Fire departments may provide more benefits to pregnant workers not offered to others with off-duty injuries or illnesses. The Supreme Court decision of 1987 related to California Federal Savings & Loan makes this crystal clear. The excuse that "we can't give benefits to pregnant workers because we'd have to do the same for everyone else" is not valid.
For the most part, pregnant women are not sick. Especially in the first months of pregnancy, they often are able to do everything they did before becoming pregnant, including fighting fire.
However, there are real risks involved with pregnancy and firefighting, particularly related to high heat exposure in the first trimester. Elevated core body temperature is known to be a serious risk factor for neural tube disorders in fetuses, such as spina bifida.
Because of the ruling in Johnson Controls, a fire department cannot legally force a woman to leave active duty at any point in a pregnancy if she is otherwise capable of doing the job.
Developing good pregnancy policies
Given the legal and social realities, here are some considerations for developing good pregnancy policies for fire departments.
Guarantee attractive alternate duty assignments for women at any stage of pregnancy. Do not treat pregnant workers as a nuisance or a drain, but as a resource.
With a pregnant firefighter, you have a healthy, skilled person who will be available to work on longer-term projects — perhaps up to a year in duration. Take advantage of that rather than just shuttling the pregnant woman around to one menial task after another.
Understand that the department cannot legally require a pregnant firefighter to leave her assignment if she is physically capable of doing the job. If alternate duty assignments are very unattractive, many women will choose to continue in an active duty role as long as they can.
There are real risks to fetuses from hazardous exposure, especially in the first trimester. A department cannot completely indemnify itself against these risks for the unborn child.
If you find yourself saying, "We can't afford to accommodate a pregnant firefighter" consider the cost to the department of losing a skilled and experienced firefighter. Consider the cost of possible legal action. Consider whether it is important to you that your department is perceived as fair and family friendly.
Make pregnancy policies clear and accessible. Assume they will be used and plan for that.
Other considerations
Statistics show that the majority of women will become pregnant and have at least one child in their lives. If you want women as firefighters, you will have to accommodate pregnancy in a positive and proactive way.
But it's not just about pregnancy. Individuals and couples will adopt children. They will raise children within their extended families. They will have issues with fertility. They will have challenges with childcare.
These situations are all normal and should be planned for, not treated as a burden or an emergency. They are issues that apply to both men and women at work.
Family friendly policies are a major way to build loyalty among employees and also to diminish attrition. Such policies make a clear statement about the intention of the organization: that it is truly inclusive, fair, and welcoming of diversity.
https://www.firerecruit.com/articles/1441244-How-to-deal-with-the-pregnant-firefighter
There are several significant laws and court decisions that affect how pregnancy can and should be addressed in the workplace.
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 (PDA) is an amendment to Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The PDA expands the definition of sex discrimination to include discrimination based on pregnancy and childbirth.
This law states: "Women affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions shall be treated the same for all employment related purposes … as other persons not so affected but similar in their ability or inability to work."
The PDA guarantees pregnant women access to benefits already in place for other workers. This law applies to all employers with 15 or more employees, as well as employment agencies and labor organizations.
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 guarantees 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year to employees for the purpose of caring for a newborn, newly adopted, or seriously ill child. This leave can also be used for personal medical conditions or for the care of other family members under some conditions.
Employers must continue health benefits during this leave and must reinstate the worker to the original position or its equivalent upon the employee's return to work. This law is gender-neutral — men and women must be given equal consideration.
California Federal Savings & Loan v. Guerra U. S. Supreme Court 1987. This decision clarified the intention of the PDA. By 1987, a number of states had passed laws that provided more benefits for pregnant workers than just the minimum guaranteed by the PDA.
In California, one of these laws was challenged as being a violation of the PDA. The U.S. Supreme Court stated in its decision that the intention of the PDA was to "construct a floor beneath which pregnancy benefits may not drop, not a ceiling above which they may not rise." Therefore, additional benefits specifically for pregnancy are legal.
UAW v. Johnson Controls U.S. Supreme Court 1991. This court decision challenged the concept of fetal protection policies. Although the defendant was a lead battery manufacturer, the principle of the case applies to the fire service as well.
This decision invalidated policies that are strictly to protect fetuses in the workplace when their mothers are otherwise able to work. The court wrote: "Decisions about the welfare of future children must be left to the parents who conceive, bear, support and raise them rather than the employers who hire those parents…."
This decision means that fire departments cannot force a woman to go to an alternate-duty assignment if she is otherwise able to work just based on fear of harm to the fetus she is carrying.
Implications of the law to the fire service
These four legal points have significance in how every fire department should deal with firefighter pregnancy. Specifically:
Fire departments must treat pregnant workers at least as well as they treat workers with off-duty injuries or illnesses that affect their ability to work.
Fire departments may provide more benefits to pregnant workers not offered to others with off-duty injuries or illnesses. The Supreme Court decision of 1987 related to California Federal Savings & Loan makes this crystal clear. The excuse that "we can't give benefits to pregnant workers because we'd have to do the same for everyone else" is not valid.
For the most part, pregnant women are not sick. Especially in the first months of pregnancy, they often are able to do everything they did before becoming pregnant, including fighting fire.
However, there are real risks involved with pregnancy and firefighting, particularly related to high heat exposure in the first trimester. Elevated core body temperature is known to be a serious risk factor for neural tube disorders in fetuses, such as spina bifida.
Because of the ruling in Johnson Controls, a fire department cannot legally force a woman to leave active duty at any point in a pregnancy if she is otherwise capable of doing the job.
Developing good pregnancy policies
Given the legal and social realities, here are some considerations for developing good pregnancy policies for fire departments.
Guarantee attractive alternate duty assignments for women at any stage of pregnancy. Do not treat pregnant workers as a nuisance or a drain, but as a resource.
With a pregnant firefighter, you have a healthy, skilled person who will be available to work on longer-term projects — perhaps up to a year in duration. Take advantage of that rather than just shuttling the pregnant woman around to one menial task after another.
Understand that the department cannot legally require a pregnant firefighter to leave her assignment if she is physically capable of doing the job. If alternate duty assignments are very unattractive, many women will choose to continue in an active duty role as long as they can.
There are real risks to fetuses from hazardous exposure, especially in the first trimester. A department cannot completely indemnify itself against these risks for the unborn child.
If you find yourself saying, "We can't afford to accommodate a pregnant firefighter" consider the cost to the department of losing a skilled and experienced firefighter. Consider the cost of possible legal action. Consider whether it is important to you that your department is perceived as fair and family friendly.
Make pregnancy policies clear and accessible. Assume they will be used and plan for that.
Other considerations
Statistics show that the majority of women will become pregnant and have at least one child in their lives. If you want women as firefighters, you will have to accommodate pregnancy in a positive and proactive way.
But it's not just about pregnancy. Individuals and couples will adopt children. They will raise children within their extended families. They will have issues with fertility. They will have challenges with childcare.
These situations are all normal and should be planned for, not treated as a burden or an emergency. They are issues that apply to both men and women at work.
Family friendly policies are a major way to build loyalty among employees and also to diminish attrition. Such policies make a clear statement about the intention of the organization: that it is truly inclusive, fair, and welcoming of diversity.
https://www.firerecruit.com/articles/1441244-How-to-deal-with-the-pregnant-firefighter
How to deal with the pregnant firefighter
By Linda Willing When women were first hired as career firefighters in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the question of how to accommodate pregnant firefighters was not at the top of the list of concerns for most
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Capt Lance Gallardo
On top of trying to support American Women who choose to become mothers (and American families in general), we have a declining birthrate in the US. Discouraging American Servicewomen from having children while on Active Duty is the last thing we should be doing. HOWEVER my concerns have to do with our military's combat readiness, and specifically the combat arms branches (infantry, Armor, Artillery, Combat Aviation, and Combat Service Support) being able to deploy to combat with the officers and enlisted that have trained together as a team for months or years. It is a very big deal to lose a key personnel, officer or enlisted in a critical leadership billet or a critical skill set within the Squad, Platoon or Company or Battalion. Key personnel losses just before a unit deploys can have devastating effects on the units morale and performance during their deployment.
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CPT (Join to see)
Capt Lance Gallardo - This is helpful information to have. Thank you for sharing it, it's important that women and their supervisors be aware of what the law provides for when/how pregnancy legilation/laws affect/convalescence leave and rights with regards to the work place.
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This is a valid concern, especially considering the realities of integrating women military personnel into all 'combat' career fields. Let's put this in the context of a special forces unit. Most elite special forces organizations (with the notable exception of the Army Rangers) operate in relatively small groups/teams. You need everyone on your team. Every person plays a vital role. You don't just 'replace' an SF operator--they're expensive and require substantial training, which requires a lot of time. I have a real problem with US taxpayers dumping a lot of money into a female operative only to see her get pregnant--because she's effectively not mission ready for a year. How do we handle that? An injury is one thing, but pregnancy is preventable. I definitely think this is something worth discussing. More guidance from the DoD is going to be absolutely necessary and soon.
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Suspended Profile
Yeah...i'm sure somehow this is Bush's and all men's fault...smh...I agree with comments below some of this is probably folks just simply setting out of their obligations...I was a deployment manager and I was always amazed at how many women popped up PG after they were notified their rotation was coming up.....anyway to be clear i'm not saying women cant do the JOB.....they MOST CERTAINLY CAN (i have had the privilege of deploying with many women who all stood just as proud and tall as the men)....but unfortunately those who don't want to the JOB can get out of it and make the others look bad.
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