NEW YORK, NY (May 12, 2017) – Leading up to Mother’s Day, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the leading post-9/11 veteran organization, is honoring mothers who have served by telling their stories. In a recent IAVA survey, 58% of women veteran respondents are mothers. IAVA is telling the stories of many of these women on social media and its blog. We also invite all veteran mothers, and the people who know them, to submit their stories, using the hashtag #SheWhoBorneTheBattle. 

IAVA launched its historic She Who Borne the Battle campaign in March to increase recognition and improve service for women veterans. 

“There are mothers overseas fighting ISIS right now. We often forget that, which is why IAVA’s number one priority this year is to increase recognition for women who serve. The women who are risking their lives, and sacrificing time with their families to defend our nation, deserve proper recognition and support for their service when they come home,” said Paul Rieckhoff, Founder and CEO of IAVA. “Today and throughout the weekend IAVA will tell the stories of veteran mothers to give them a voice. The contributions of women have been overlooked for too long, which is why we launched our historic She Who Borne The Battle campaign. It’s also why we joined leaders from both parties in Congress to introduce the Deborah Sampson Act that includes improving VA newborn care for women vets. This Mother’s Day, we’re calling on all Members of Congress and the President to back the Deborah Sampson Act, to honor the mothers who serve.” 

She Who Borne The Battle: More than 345,000 women have deployed since 9/11. Women are the fastest-growing segment of the veteran population and that trend will continue as the number of male veterans simultaneously declines over the next decades. However, many female veterans are left without the proper care to support their needs when they return from their service. She Who Borne the Battle will change this by providing a foundation of public awareness, local support and policy changes solely targeted at supporting and empowering female veterans. Learn more at SheWhoBorneTheBattle.org. 

The Deborah Sampson Act is bi-partisan, comprehensive legislation to improve recognition and services for women veterans. The bill specifically aims to improve services at VA for mothers, by improving the quality of care for infant children of women veterans by increasing the number of days of maternity care VA facilities can provide and authorizing medically-necessary transportation for newborns.