Leaders from 23 groups representing millions of Americans join effort to reverse military policy of subsidizing abortions with taxpayer dollars
WASHINGTON — Twenty-three conservative leaders are rallying behind U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) efforts to overturn the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) new abortion policy that allows taxpayer-funded travel and leave time for service members and their dependents who wish to get an abortion for any reason. In a letter sent to all 48 Republicans in the U.S. Senate, the leaders praised Senator Tuberville’s work and urged conservatives to support his efforts.
“The mission of the U.S. military is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation’s security, not to pursue an abortion agenda being pushed by the Biden administration and their radical allies on the outside,” said the leaders. “Senator Tuberville understands the importance of the military, and he seeks to stop it from becoming an abortion facilitator that would encourage pregnant service women to choose a taxpayer subsidized abortion instead of giving birth to the child.”
The letter comes after Senator Tuberville carried out his pledge to place a hold on all civilian and flag officer nominees last week on the U.S. Senate floor.
Signees supporting Senator Tuberville’s efforts are:
· Dr. Ben Carson, Founder of American Cornerstone Institute
· Marjorie Dannenfelser, President of Susan B. Anthony Pro-life America
· Brian Burch, President of CatholicVote.org
· Tony Perkins, President of Family Research Council
· Kevin Roberts, President of The Heritage Foundation
· Jeanne Mancini, President of March for Life Action
· Jessica Anderson, Executive Director of Heritage Action for America
· Brent Bozell, Founder and President of Media Research Center
· Morton Blackwell, Chairman of Conservative Leadership PAC
· Dean Nelson, Executive Director of Human Coalition Action
· Penny Nance, President of Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee
· Catherine Glenn Foster, President & CEO of Americans United for Life
· Ryan T. Anderson, Ph.D., President of The Ethics and Public Policy Center
· Ken Blackwell, Chairman of Conservative Action Project
· Mike Berry, Vice President of External Affairs of First Liberty
· Star Parker, Founder and President of Center for Urban Renewal and Education
· Paul Teller, Executive Director of Advancing American Freedom
· David Bozell, President of ForAmerica
· Elaine Donnelly, President of Center for Military Readiness
· Kelly Shackelford, President/CEO of First Liberty Institute
· Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch
· Former U.S. Rep. Bob McEwen, Ohio
· Diana L. Banister of Sovereign Global Solutions
BACKGROUND
On February 16, 2023, the DoD formally announced its new policy to fund travel and paid time off for service members and their dependents seeking an abortion, which was met with Senator Tuberville reinforcing his intent to place a hold on civilian and flag officer nominations. Prior to this, Senator Tuberville repeatedly warned Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin about the serious repercussions of this new policy after Secretary Austin’s announcement of intent in a memo on October 20th, 2022 — all of which went ignored. Last Wednesday—on March 8, Senator Tuberville carried out his promise by objecting to a motion to approve a batch of DoD nominations by unanimous consent, instead requiring the Senate to approve the nominees by regular order.
The department’s authority to fund abortions is governed by 10 U.S.C. 1093, which limits abortions to cases of rape, incest, or pregnancies that threaten the life of the mother. These rules apply to both service members and their dependents. Given this provision, the DoD has averaged less than 20 abortions per year, with 91 abortions at DoD facilities occurring between 2016–2021. According to a third-party study, under the new policy, the number of abortions subsidized by taxpayers through the DoD could increase to 4,100 annually — 205 times the number of abortions performed last year.
Complete text of the letter can be found below.
Dear Senator:
We, the undersigned groups representing millions of Americans, are grateful to Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-AL, and those who have joined him in standing against the Biden administration in defense of innocent unborn children.
Prior to the release of U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s October 20, 2022, memorandum outlining how the Biden administration would start promoting abortion through the Department of Defense (DOD), Senator Tuberville made it clear that if the DOD went ahead with their plans he would put a hold on all DOD civilian and general flag officer nominations.
Despite the warnings, Secretary Austin pursued this radical move to turn the DOD into an abortion facilitator, under the false flag that it would protect “readiness of the force.” This claim seeks to make the official U.S. military policy to be that aborting a child is better for the U.S. military then embracing parenthood. In response, Senator Tuberville made it clear he would stick up for the U.S. military in opposition to this destructive policy.
“The Secretary of Defense is following through with his radical plan to facilitate thousands of abortions a year with taxpayer dollars. So, I will follow through with my plan to hold all Department of Defense (DoD) civilian, flag, and general officer nominations that come before the U.S. Senate.” – Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-AL.
The mission of the U.S. military is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation’s security, not to pursue an abortion agenda being pushed by the Biden administration and their radical allies on the outside.
Senator Tuberville understands the importance of the military, and he seeks to stop it from becoming an abortion facilitator that would encourage pregnant service women to choose a taxpayer subsidized abortion instead of giving birth to the child.
The acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs admitted that according to a RAND study, the new policy will lead to increasing the number of taxpayer-funded abortions from 20 to 4,100every year, leading to the loss of over 4,000 innocent lives.
It is for those lives, and the reputation of the U.S. Armed Forces as an institution
which defends life and freedom, that Senator Tuberville and his allies are standing up for. We appeal to all senators to join with Senator Tuberville until this death-promoting policy from the Biden administration is overturned.
We look forward to working with all of you in support of these efforts as well as working to overturn the policy through the Appropriations process.
Sincerely,
Brian Burch, President
CatholicVote.org
Marjorie Dannenfelser, President
Susan B. Anthony Pro-life America
Kevin Roberts, President
The Heritage Foundation
Dr. Ben Carson, Founder and Chairman
American Cornerstone Institute
Tony Perkins, President
Family Research Council
Jeanne Mancini, President
March for Life Action
Brent Bozell, Founder and President
Media Research Center
Morton Blackwell, Chairman
Conservative Leadership PAC
Dean Nelson, Executive Director
Human Coalition Action
Penny Nance, President
Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee
Jessica Anderson, Executive Director
Heritage Action for America
Catherine Glenn Foster, President & CEO
Americans United for Life.
Ryan T. Anderson, Ph.D. , President
The Ethics and Public Policy Center
Ken Blackwell, Chairman
Conservative Action Project
Mike Berry, Vice President of External Affairs
First Liberty
Star Parker, Founder and President
Center for Urban Renewal and Education
Paul Teller, Executive Director
Advancing American Freedom
David Bozell, President
ForAmerica
Elaine Donnelly, President
Center for Military Readiness
Kelly Shackelford, President/CEO
First Liberty Institute
Tom Fitton, President
Judicial Watch
Bob McEwen
U.S. House of Representatives
Former Member, Ohio
Diana L. Banister
Sovereign Global Solutions
Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, and HELP Committees.
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