Home » Pregnant Soldiers Won't Face Court-Martial, But They Won't Go Unpunished Either

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Joining the army in 1978, Anthony Cucolo has served for 31 years. The battle-tested soldier took part in the wars of Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Presently he is Commander of the Third Infantry Division of Fort Stewart, Georgia.

His controversial pregnancy policy went into effect on November 4, 2009.

“Cucolo is believed to be the first to make the pregnancy an offense that could be dealt with by court-martial — for both the man and the woman. The ruling only applies to troops under his command..."

In less than a month, Gen. Cucolo has already backed away from the policy, saying, “I have never considered court-martial for this, I do not ever see myself putting a soldier in jail for this." But the General insists that pregnancy during deployment is unacceptable, because it leaves the pregnant soldier's unit weakened.

A pregnant female in a combat zone is immediately ordered to go home or be redeployed. Said General Cucolo, with 1,682 female soldiers under his command, "I need every soldier I've got...I need them for the entire duration of this deployment."

While pregnant rape victims are exempt from the rule, there seems to be no leniency for female soldiers whose pregnancies were caused by sexual encounters with their own husbands.

Besides the obvious fact that the General's policy will add to the stigma of pregnant soldiers – that female soldiers get pregnant as their ticket to leave the combat zone – there is the perturbing notion of criminalizing pregnancy. Framed as a question, “Is pregnancy during deployment a punishable crime?

Also, isn't General Cucolo indirectly making it the rule for female soldiers to take contraception? And if that is the case, then does that not impose on conservative Catholic female soldiers, who do not believe in the use of contraception?

Though, Mr. Cucolo says a lawyer has nodded his policy, it is still possible that lawsuits could result from a rule of this nature. With that likelihood it should not surprise us to hear that the General will be overruled on this policy, or he will be pressured to abandon the no-pregnancy rule entirely.

Sources: The Associated Press; Wikipedia