To: The United States Senate
Even in cases of rape or incest
Women serving their country in the Peace Corps deserve the same coverage for reproductive health care as their federal employee counterparts. Please fix this long-standing inequity by providing abortion coverage to Peace Corps volunteers in cases of life endangerment, rape or incest.
Why is this important?
My two years in the Peace Corps were among the most difficult and most rewarding of my life. I was stationed in a small village called Tanyigbe in Ghana where I taught chemistry and biology at the local high school.
Peace Corps volunteers, like me, devote their time and energy in service of people all around the world, and sadly, they too often face the risk of sexual assault.
So, when I found out that women in the Peace Corps are denied access to abortion coverage—even in cases of rape, incest or life endangerment—I was outraged.
The Peace Corps Equity Act of 2013 would fix this, and we know we can make it happen. When the American public discovered that military women—who are too frequently victims of sexual assault—were denied abortion coverage in such cases, the public outcry led to the passage of the Shaheen Amendment to change that.
So we know that if we speak out loud enough, we can win this. And this bill is on the move in the Senate, so we need to act now.
Will you join me to create the groundswell we need to ensure that women in the Peace Corps have access to abortion coverage?