“I was there when the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee warned Secretary Austin that if he did this in a unilateral way, with no input from Congress, that there would be consequences, severe consequences. So Secretary Austin knew this before he even did the policy,” Bacon said.

Bacon said had Austin worked with Congress, they could have reached a compromise. For instance, Bacon suggested a permissive leave policy, where time spent traveling for an abortion wouldn’t count against vacation time.

“To do this in a unilateral way and expect zero consequences was foolish by Secretary Austin. He should have sat in a room and made a deal with the leadership,” Bacon said.