\n<\/p>\n
We applaud the Department of Defense for working to expand access to fertility treatments for service members,\u201d Ossorio said in a statement. \u201cWe are overjoyed for our military members who may only now qualify for coverage and desperately need this care to build a family.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Pentagon\u2019s previous policy only offered assistance to married couples whose infertility was connected to an injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoD is in the process of determining the exact contours of these policy changes and expects to finalize and share with plaintiff a signed memorandum by the end of February 2024 that formally directs the changes and provides further details on their scope,\u201d wrote Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.<\/p>\n
The move comes as a result of a lawsuit filed by the National Organization for Women, the Yale Law School Veterans Legal Services Clinic and the National Veterans Legal Services Program, who alleged that the policy discriminated against single troops and same-sex couples.<\/p>\n
While the US Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) has not officially announced a policy change, Military.com wrote that Sonia Ossorio, executive director of NOW NYC, celebrated the plan.<\/p>\n
We applaud the Department of Defense for working to expand access to fertility treatments for service members,\u201d Ossorio said. \u201cWe are overjoyed for our military members who may only now qualify for coverage and desperately need this care to build a family.\u201d<\/p>\n
A group of transgender veterans are also suing<\/a> the\u00a0VA to have the government provide sex-change surgeries.<\/p>\n On Thursday, the Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA) filed a federal lawsuit against the VA, seeking an \u201corder that the VA act on TAVA\u2019s 2016 rulemaking petition for gender-confirmation surgery,\u201d according to a\u00a0press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cNearly eight years since TAVA submitted its rulemaking petition asking the VA to provide this essential and lifesaving medical care, and more than two years since Secretary McDonough pledged to make this care available, the VA has failed to act,\u201d the release says. \u201cThe VA\u2019s delay endangers the health and well-being of many of the nation\u2019s 163,000 transgender veterans. It also violates the VA\u2019s legal obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n