Pregnant Soldiers to be Courtmartialed

[bicycleman]

A high-ranking Army official's new policy making pregnancy among troops in Iraq an offense punishable by court-martial is raising eyebrows even though experts say he is well within his rights to do so.

Military experts say Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo III is well within his rights to punish soldiers for becoming pregnant or getting a woman pregnant under his command.
(/ABC News)According to the Nov. 4 general order of Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo III, a commander in northern Iraq, the punishment would apply not only to the female soldiers who become pregnant, but also to the male soldiers who impregnate them, even if the couple is married.

Cucolo told ABC News that the policy, believed to be the first of its kind, was necessary to avoid losing valuable troops in his 22,000-member command.

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/army-maj-general-makes-pregnancy-punishable-offense-iraq/story?id=9391242

I can see some controversy arising over this one. You know if males and females weren't thrust together for so many months, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

 

[liblady]

Army Maj. General Makes Pregnancy Punishable Offense in Iraq - ABC News

I can see some controversy arising over this one. You know if males and females weren't thrust together for so many months, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

i have no problem with expecting soldiers to obey the rules.

 

[bicycleman]

i have no problem with expecting soldiers to obey the rules.

There have been regulations about fraternizing for years, but it looks like if a woman got pregnant, the military looked the other way. Now, I wonder what the situation will be if the woman gets raped and subsequently becomes pregnant? If the military lets the woman off if she was raped, I can see a lot of pregnant women claiming rape, and the poor guy gets the shaft.

 

[Regicollis]

Good luck with getting that senseless ban on pregnancy to work.

Since time immemorial it has been an almost universal experience that people would have sex and get pregnant, no matter if they are allowed to or not. It is not going to change because a general with an almost regal Roman numeral after his name has made the rule.

And what harm would it do if a soldier for once gave life instead of taking it?

 

[Ethereal]

Army Maj. General Makes Pregnancy Punishable Offense in Iraq - ABC News

I can see some controversy arising over this one. You know if males and females weren't thrust together for so many months, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

Good for him. Becoming pregnant in theater is the result of negligence, plain and simple.

 

[Scorpion89]

This is a illegal command by this General and I would be surprise to see it go very fast.

I can see him being charged with a Section 134 he doesn't have the right to make this type of call only the Joint Chiefs and the Commander and Chief can make this call.

 

[bicycleman]

This is a illegal command by this General and I would be surprise to see it go very fast.

I can see him being charged with a Section 134 he doesn't have the right to make this type of call only the Joint Chiefs and the Commander and Chief can make this call.

I'm just wondering what the UCMJ says concerning this matter?

 

[Ethereal]

This is a illegal command by this General and I would be surprise to see it go very fast.

I can see him being charged with a Section 134 he doesn't have the right to make this type of call only the Joint Chiefs and the Commander and Chief can make this call.

There's nothing illegal about it; you signed the contract. If you get pregnant in theater then you should be punished. It's caused by negligence and precludes you from performing your duties.

 

[rathi]

Pregnancy obviously detracts from a soldier performing her duties, so having a policy to prevent it seems rather straightforward. Having sex and getting pregnant are not mutually inclusive, and a soldier simply needs to use birth control.

 

[bicycleman]

Pregnancy obviously detracts from a soldier performing her duties, so having a policy to prevent it seems rather straightforward. Having sex and getting pregnant are not mutually inclusive, and a soldier simply needs to use birth control.

I think a lot of the sexual encounters just happen. It's an act where both parties are unprepared. Whoops! Did I do that? Close quarters breed close encounters. I'm all for taking women out of these roles. Let men do the fighting and women stay home at the rear echelon.

 

[Infinite Chaos]

There's nothing illegal about it; you signed the contract. If you get pregnant in theater then you should be punished. It's caused by negligence and precludes you from performing your duties.

There's very few would enforce such a black and white interpretation of the rules. Rape as already mentioned muddies the picture and then mention of "contract" is a money making charter for lawyers if the military contract new recruits sign doesn't specifically mention anything about "pregnancy."

 

[bicycleman]

i have no problem with expecting soldiers to obey the rules.

Yeah, they were supposed to, but then here comes spontaneity, and the old thought that we can get away with it that nobody will know.

 

[MsRetro]

There have been regulations about fraternizing for years, but it looks like if a woman got pregnant, the military looked the other way. Now, I wonder what the situation will be if the woman gets raped and subsequently becomes pregnant? If the military lets the woman off if she was raped, I can see a lot of pregnant women claiming rape, and the poor guy gets the shaft.

The news reports I'm reading say that there is no provision for rape. So, a female soldier could be raped, then be punished if she becomes pregnant from it.

Also, there has been a lot of documentation of female soldiers being punished for reporting it when they are raped (still looking for links, my google-fu is failing me). I can't imagine bringing a false rape accusation in that atmosphere.

Pregnancy obviously detracts from a soldier performing her duties, so having a policy to prevent it seems rather straightforward. Having sex and getting pregnant are not mutually inclusive, and a soldier simply needs to use birth control.

Any birth control short of sterilization has some rate of failure, even with perfect use.

 

[OxymoronP]

Women in the military :lol:

 

[bicycleman]

The news reports I'm reading say that there is no provision for rape. So, a female soldier could be raped, then be punished if she becomes pregnant from it.

Also, there has been a lot of documentation of female soldiers being punished for reporting it when they are raped (still looking for links, my google-fu is failing me). I can't imagine bringing a false rape accusation in that atmosphere.



Any birth control short of sterilization has some rate of failure, even with perfect use.

Remember the Tail Hook debacle some years back that ended a few careers?

 

[Partisan]

Good luck with getting that senseless ban on pregnancy to work.

Since time immemorial it has been an almost universal experience that people would have sex and get pregnant, no matter if they are allowed to or not. It is not going to change because a general with an almost regal Roman numeral after his name has made the rule.

And what harm would it do if a soldier for once gave life instead of taking it?

It's not going to change, just the punishment......

If a woman wants to be a mommy, she should not be in the military.....

 

[MsRetro]

Remember the Tail Hook debacle some years back that ended a few careers?

Are you trying to say that this is an example of a situation where women felt safe reporting abuse, or are you trying to say that the Tailhook accusations were false?

 

[Catz Part Deux]

I think a lot of the sexual encounters just happen. It's an act where both parties are unprepared. Whoops! Did I do that? Close quarters breed close encounters. I'm all for taking women out of these roles. Let men do the fighting and women stay home at the rear echelon.

And now we get to the real reason... :roll:

We have the science of controlling pregnancy down-pat. Get a depo-provera shot or a norplant. Pregnancy has no place in a war zone.

 

[rivrrat]

Good. They should be courtmartialed.

 

[jackalope]

Don't get pregnant, don't impregnate anyone ..... and DON'T have gay sex, either.


I think the guy has just got sex issues.



:lol:


This is dumb. If a soldier is getting pregnant to get out of a tour of duty, then I guess that soldier isn't the best soldier anyways.

 

[Ikari]

Army Maj. General Makes Pregnancy Punishable Offense in Iraq - ABC News

I can see some controversy arising over this one. You know if males and females weren't thrust together for so many months, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

Contract. They agreed. Unfortunately, biology is unfair and it's harder to catch the man doing it. But the woman gets pregnant, so it's pretty obvious at that point. And it negatively affects her ability to do her job, which I'm paying her for. Uphold contract. It's that simple.

 

[MsRetro]

Nothing of the sort. It brought out the abuse of women into the light, probably even started the rules against sex harrassment and sure ended a few careers, over what everyone thought was old hat and untouchable. The women never felt safe reporting abuse and probably still don't, but that would depend on the command. Right now, if a woman reports harassment, her superior is expected to take it seriously and react accordingly or his career is on the line. What I am getting at, is that hanky panky has been going on for years. I don't expect it will stop just because of the threat of court martial. That threat was always there, anyway.

Thanks for clarifying.

I'm still looking for the cases I was referring to; they seem to have fallen off the 'net.

 

[samsmart]

Contract. They agreed. Unfortunately, biology is unfair and it's harder to catch the man doing it. But the woman gets pregnant, so it's pretty obvious at that point. And it negatively affects her ability to do her job, which I'm paying her for. Uphold contract. It's that simple.

This is why we need birth control pills for men.

 

[CriticalThought]

As long as Don't Ask, Don't Tell is a justifiable policy for controlling sexual behavior, this too is a justifiable policy. In fact, it is quite equitable and should be the official policy of the armed forces as long as Don't Ask, Don't Tell is in effect.

 

[samsmart]

As long as Don't Ask, Don't Tell is a justifiable policy for controlling sexual behavior, this too is a justifiable policy. In fact, it is quite equitable and should be the official policy of the armed forces as long as Don't Ask, Don't Tell is in effect.

Unwanted pregnancies =/= "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

If you're a woman and you get pregnant, the changes to your body prevents you from performing the duties of a serviceman. If you're a man and you get pregnant, you are bringing a new life into this world that cannot take care of itself and the mother cannot do alone and so share in the responsibility of the child's upbringing.

Whether a person is gay or not does not affect a person the same way as whether they are a parent or not.

(Just to be clear, I'm supporting this pregnancy ban but I'm not supporting "Don't Ask, Don't Tell;" I'm all for gays serving.)