Pro-Life Senator Joni Ernst is a retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel. She’s pro-life but, because of her service in the military, she is especially upset that Joe Biden is forcing Americans to fund abortion travel for the military.
As LifeNews reported yesterday, Sen. Tommy Tuberville continued to boldly stand for unborn babies and American taxpayers Tuesday in the U.S. Senate, vowing to keep blocking Pentagon nominees until the Biden administration reverses its new policy forcing taxpayers to pay for military servicemembers to travel for elective abortions.
Thus far, the Alabama Republican has held up the confirmations of approximately 160 Pentagon promotions, and he promised to continue until the pro-abortion policy is gone.
But he’s not alone.
Senator Ernst told U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that Tuberville is right — opposing the pro-abortion policy and saying it is illegally turning the Department of Defense into “an abortion travel agency.”
“I just want to state that I am adamantly opposed to the DOD’s new policy on allowing travel expenses for those that are going to other states to seek abortions. I think it’s incredibly important that we remain adherent to the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer dollars from going towards abortions,” she said.
Ernst added: “Those are taxpayer dollars being spent to fund the extension of an abortion. I am adamantly opposed. I know that there are others that are on this committee that agree as well. We’re not saying that women can’t seek abortions. They can do that, but that is to be privately funded.”
Skirting federal bans on taxpayer funding for elective abortions, the new department policy requires taxpayers to pay travel costs and paid time off for military service members and their families to abort their unborn babies. As a result, approximately 4,1000 more unborn babies could be killed in abortions every year, Republican lawmakers said.
“I hate to have to do this. It’s unfortunate, but we make the laws over here. The DoD doesn’t. This is not about abortion. It’s about taxpayer-funded abortions,” Tuberville said Monday in response to criticism, according to Fox News.
“If this was about a list of personnel, people actually doing the fighting, this might be different,” he continued. “If this had to do with winning a war, obviously I wouldn’t be doing this.”
Because of Tuberville’s objections, the U.S. Senate cannot vote to confirm long lists of nominees at once, as it typically does; instead, lawmakers must vote on each nominee one at a time, which takes longe
Austin refused to budge on the policy Tuesday, even though polls consistently show strong public opposition to taxpayer-funded abortions. Instead, Austin attacked Tuberville, claiming he is harming military readiness, The Hill reports.
“Not approving the recommendations for promotions actually creates a ripple effect in the force that makes us far less ready than we need to be. The effects are cumulative and it will affect families, it will affect kids going to schools … it’s a powerful effect and it will impact our readiness,” Austin told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
But other pro-life lawmakers defended Tuberville’s actions, including U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, the leading Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“Clearly, on the DoD policy, I absolutely agree with Sen. Tuberville,” Wicker said, according to Punchbowl News. “That said, there are a lot of military positions that need to be filled. And so we’re working with leadership and Sen. Tuberville to see what can be resolved.”
Tuberville vowed to fight the policy for as long as he served in the Senate.
“I want our military to be the strongest and deadliest it has ever been. But I also want the administration to follow the law. As long as I have a voice in this body, Congress will write the laws. Not the Secretary of Defense, not the Joint Chiefs,” he said, adding that if Democrats wanted to change the policy, they need to change the law.
Original Article: https://www.lifenews.com/2023/03/29/pro-life-senator-blasts-biden-for-forcing-americans-to-fund-abortion-travel/
