In a rare example of a member of Congress working for the people, Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama is using his objection power to punish the Department of Defense for advancing the Biden administration’s abortion activism.
After months of prioritizing abortion and facing criticism from the GOP for it, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced in February that the taxpayer-funded Pentagon would grant up to three weeks of paid time off and travel for U.S. military members and their family members to obtain abortions.
Tuberville warned Austin in December that he would “place a hold on all future U.S. Department of Defense [DOD] civilian and general flag officer nominees” because the DOD is prohibited from offering abortions except in rare cases.
As Tuberville’s office reported in one of its letters to Austin, between 2016 and 2021, the DOD averaged fewer than 20 abortions per year. The Pentagon’s newest policy, however, would subsidize thousands of “non-covered abortions” without congressional consent or the approval of taxpayers, a majority of whom oppose using their dollars for abortions.
“Secretary Austin’s new abortion policy is immoral and arguably illegal. If he wants to change the law, he needs to go through Congress,” Tuberville said from the Senate floor moments after revealing that Austin ignored his attempts to get an explanation for the policy.
Once Austin publicly declared his intention to follow through on the abortion promises, Republicans in both congressional chambers scrambled to oppose the DOD.
Much to Democrats’
