The U.S. Military Academy at West Point has secretly put into effect a policy of encouraging abortions and of allowing the cadets who have them to remain in good standing. The policy induces abortions rather than 1live births for cadets who have illegitimate pregnancies, and encourages promiscuity by promising confidentiality and no penalties.
The Academy’s honor code has been a cherished possession of cadets and graduates. It supposedly requires complete integrity in word and deed and is strictly enforced; violations are a cause for dismissal. But, under the new policy, the female cadets who have illegitimate pregnancies are protected against dismissal and are kept in good standing as though they were honorable cadets.
All the female cadet needs to do in order to cover up her fornication and be kept in good standing is to accept counseling and then take a three-day leave over the weekend to have her abortion. If she gets married or has her baby, she will be unceremoniously dismissed from the Academy.
This policy is all set forth in a directive called “Counseling Procedures and Administrative Instructions in Cases of Cadet Pregnancies” issued on May 28, 1981 by Colonel Harvey H. Perritt, Jr., who signs himself Chief of Staff/Deputy Post Commander. He obviously hoped that the American public would not discover his order because it was stamped “For Official Use Only” plus the warning that “dissemination is prohibited except as authorized” and “criminal statutes and regulations provide penalties for unauthorized removal or disclosure.”
The new USMA policy states that pregnant cadets “will have the following options: (1) tender resignation, (2) request leave without pay, (3) take such measures as she determines appropriate, and remain a cadet in good standing unless medically disqualified.””
The policy directive continues: “Cadets who wish to remain a cadet may do so provided they meet all medical qualifications. … Tactical officers may … grant up to three days of leave for cadets who so request in conjunction with pregnancy. … Unless circumstances prohibit, this one-time leave will be granted between Friday and Monday…”
It is rather obvious that a “one-time leave” of “three days” is long enough to have an abortion but not long enough to have a baby. Other parts of the po]fcy directive are also crafted to induce abortions.
In order to “meet all medical qualifications” necessary to remain a cadet, she must never be more than three months pregnant. “In the average pregnancy, the point of medical inability to perform duties usually will not be reached until the end of the first trimester, at approximately the twelfth week, as judged by the Surgeon, USMA.”
Once the cadet passes that point in her pregnancy, she has lost her chance to request leave without pay, because only “cadets not medically disqualified may request leave without pay for up to one year.”
If she requests leave without pay prior to that point in time, she then is subject to another provision in the directive: “Cadets requesting leave may return to USMA, providing they meet the same requirements as for original admission, to include being medically fit, not married, and not having custody or legal responsibility for a child.”
The cadet who finds she is pregnant is absolutely compelled to submit to the USMA counseling procedure. “The cadet will further be advised that consultation, within 48 hours of verification of pregnancy, with the Counseling Coordinator or Alternate, is a mandatory duty.” Redundant paragraphs in the policy directive remind the cadet again and again of her “mandatory duty” and that she “must” accept USMA counseling.
The cadet is assured of absolute confidentiality so long as she has an abortion within the first trimester. She is reminded that her consultation is “administratively privileged” and can never be “used in any way by USMA officials against the cadet,” and that “no formal report of the pregnancy will be made unless she becomes medically disqualified” (i.e., becomes more than 3 months pregnant). Her parents can be notified only “with the cadet’s consent.”
The U.S. Military Academy is a prestigious institution that provides a unique training to give officers the leadership and discipline to lead troops in battle for the defense of America. It looks as though West Point has lost sight of its mission.
