Our Military Should Protect Americans, Not Fund Abortions

July 31, 2023

By Tim Huelskamp

Reprinted from LifeSite News

The sole purpose of the United States military is to protect and defend American lives. Yet it’s doing the very opposite under the Biden administration’s radical abortion policies. Instead of focusing Pentagon resources on protecting American interests, the Biden administration is using taxpayer dollars to pay service members to abort their children and reimbursing them for travel costs to states that allow it.

Pro-life lawmakers in both the House of Representatives and Senate have an obligation to hold the administration accountable for illegally promoting abortions for the military and their families and distracting the military from its mission.

At least one lawmaker is bravely standing up against the Biden administration’s blatant violation of federal law. Armed Services Committee member Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) has boldly pledged to block every one of the administration’s civilian and general flag officer nominations until President Joe Biden reverses this egregious policy. So far, Coach Tuberville has followed through on his promise by blocking a total of 260 military promotions and nominations since February.

High on the list of Tuberville’s concerns about the abortion policy is its open defiance of the law.

He recently pointed out that “Congress has never authorized special travel reimbursement benefits or paid leave for military personnel’s abortions.” The policy violates the bipartisan Hyde Amendment , which protects taxpayers from funding most abortions. In fact, U.S. Code established in 1984 prohibits the DOD from using funds for the performance of abortions except when the life of the mother is in danger — a limitation Biden’s new policy clearly ignores.

As a U.S. senator, Biden himself voted for the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992, which likewise prohibits the Veterans Administration from covering abortions. So desperate is the president to prioritize his extreme political agenda ahead of our national defense that he is breaking the very law for which he voted.

During a July 19 briefing by the DOD, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) asked a question about service members’ ability to obtain an elective abortion after eight months of pregnancy that was left unanswered by DOD officials. The DOD’s evasiveness on this point suggests that any female service member seeking a late-term abortion is provided with coverage for the abortion and associated costs, including travel and hotel accommodations, by the military.

And if that’s the case, the Biden administration policy not only aligns with that of China and North Korea, two nations that permit gruesome late-term abortions but actively subsidizes those late-term abortions using taxpayer dollars.

Under the military’s new policy, women receive up to three weeks of paid time off to obtain their abortions. Yet service members receive no leave when their mother or father passes away, nor are military personnel granted time off when they experience miscarriages or stillbirths. It’s rather revealing that this administration awards those seeking elective life-ending procedures while providing service members little support during the unexpected loss of a loved one outside the womb.

Such permissive abortion policies within the U.S. military could also endanger women service members by exposing them to abuse at the hands of male officers with malicious intentions. It would be simple enough for a commanding officer or sexual predator to cover up his abuse by pressuring pregnant female officers into abortions they don’t want.

A study often cited by the administration maintains that between 2,600 and 4,100 active-duty servicewomen seek abortions annually. These figures suggest that, including dependents, Biden’s Department of Defense would fund nearly 7,000 deaths by abortion a year. That’s 7,000 deaths too many.

Military-funded abortions should not take precedence over the slew of other military budget priorities, including ammunition shortages and dwindling recruitment. It’s long past time for pro-life lawmakers in Washington to do more than merely denounce the extreme abortion policy at large within the DOD. Every pro-life lawmaker must find the courage to get off the sidelines and join Coach Tuberville’s team to protect every American, born and unborn.

RELATED: Congressman: Don’t Blame Tuberville, Blame Biden for Making Americans Fund Abortions – LifeNews.com

LifeNews Note: Tim Huelskamp is a senior political adviser to CatholicVote, a former whip for the House Pro-Life Caucus, and a former U.S. representative for Kansas.