need counseling on and availability of contraception for non-contraceptive benefits (for example, menstrual suppression and predictable menstrual patterns), which is important in ensuring readiness for deployment to remote or operational theaters. (10) Research studies based on the Department of Defense Survey of Health Related Behaviors Among Active Duty Military Personnel found a high rate of unintended pregnancy among women members of the Armed Forces. Adjusting for the difference between age distributions in the Armed Forces and the general population, the rate of unintended pregnancy among women members of the Armed Forces is higher than among the general population. (11) The Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services has recommended that all the Armed Forces, to the extent that they have not already, implement initiatives that inform members of the Armed Forces of the importance of family planning, educate them on methods of contraception, and make various methods of contraception available, based on the finding that family planning can increase the overall readiness and quality of life of all members of the Armed Forces. (12) The military departments received more than 6,700 reports of sexual assaults involving members of the Armed Forces as victims or subjects during fiscal year 2017. Through regulations, the Department of Defense already supports a policy of ensuring that women members of the Armed Forces who are sexually assaulted have access to emergency contraception, and the initiation of contraception if desired and medically appropriate. 3. Contraception coverage parity under the TRICARE program (a) In general Section 1074d of title 10, United States Code, is amended— (1) in the header for subsection (a), by inserting for members and former members after services available