Sen. Tommy Tuberville is standing firm in his determination to stop Defense Department travel subsidies for abortions.  Pushback is not surprising, but the vitriol being aimed at the Alabama Republican suggests that the controversy involves more than abortion.  

Under existing law, DoD facilities or funds may not be used for abortions, except in cases of rape or incest or to save the life of the mother.  When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, some states acted to restrict abortion services, while others protected abortion availability by legislative action or voter referendum.

On October 20, 2022, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a Memorandum offering generous time off and travel subsidies for military women and families seeking abortions across state lines.  To stop Austin’s unilateral action, Sen. Tuberville put a “hold” on group confirmations of DoD personnel nominations and promotions.  The senator’s principled protest will continue until Secretary Austin revokes his policy or Congress votes to uphold or abolish it.

Tuberville’s tactics are not unprecedented.  The Senate rules in question are a legislative “check and balance” option that both political parties historically have used to delay or defeat some Executive Branch policy proposals. 

Because Tuberville’s hold has temporarily moved “acting” officials into some high-level positions, critics have accused Tuberville of harming national security.  The former Auburn University Coach’s actions, however, do not preclude confirmation of individual nominations.    

Sen. Tuberville proved that point by successfully moving for votes on three individual nominations.  Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr., a controversial nominee, is now confirmed as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

If Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer really believed Sen. Tuberville’s hold on group confirmations imperiled military readiness, he could have prioritized individual nominees and scheduled votes weeks ago.  Instead, Schumer boasted about his confirmation of about 140 judicial nominees, speaking volumes about his own priorities.

Tuberville Attacks Escalate

Sen. Tuberville’s determination keeps causing heads to explode.  National Security spokesman John Kirby, for example, launched an anti-Tuberville tirade claiming that the Pentagon has a “foundational, sacred obligation” to subsidize abortions.  A new General Accountability Office report has revealed shoddy, unsafe living conditions in military barracks, but the Pentagon assigns priority to the “sacrament” of abortion.

A trio of top civilian leaders, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, and Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, wrote an op-ed castigating Tuberville, and they  escalated their attacks in a joint CNN interview. 

Secretary Kendall complained that an Air Force colonel attending an embassy event was “taunted” by a Chinese colonel about “the way our democracy is working.”  Kendall’s fretting about a Chinese colonel’s opinion of America was an embarrassing bow to communist tyrants who routinely kill countless babies before and after birth.

Topping that, Secretary Del Toro accused Sen. Tuberville of “aiding and abetting a communist [government] and other autocratic regimes around the world.”  He added, “I would argue that [he is] playing Russian roulette with the very lives of our service members by denying them the opportunity to have the most experienced combat leaders. . .”

Del Toro’s intemperate remark was ironic in view of the Navy’s admitted “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) policies, which prioritize racially discriminatory quotas over color-blind meritocracy.

Critics have accused Sen. Tuberville of harming recruiting and retention, but as Law Prof. Emeritus William A. Woodruff has explained, the Army felt compelled to award generous bonuses to boost recruiting six months before the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision.  As for retention, the Army recently discontinued generous bonuses because goals have been reached for the past five years.

Politico reports that only “a small number” of military women have sought reimbursement for travel expenses related to abortion.  Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote a letter asking Secretary Austin whether information that “approximately 12 women” have used the abortion travel program was accurate, and if the policy has been used to obtain late term abortions. 

Wicker also renewed previous requests for “substantive data” to support assertions that the Court’s Dobbs decision would have “serious implications” for the “readiness of the Force.”  Such data, apparently, does not exist.

Could Something Else be Going on Here?

America’s military strength does not depend on military women aborting their babies.  And the Senate can confirm deserving nominees later if not sooner.  So, what explains the relentless personal attacks on Sen. Tuberville?  

Consider this.  If Secretary Austin can get away with subsidizing abortion travel without a vote of Congress, Pentagon ideologues and outside activists will not stop there.  The same officials who have willingly enlisted in the administration's campaign for abortion on demand until birth are sure to expand "access" to other controversial medical services, without a vote of Congress.

At a Pentagon briefing, Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said, “Access to reproductive care (meaning abortion) is ‘just something that we can’t compromise on.’”  This reflected Secretary Austin’s October 2022 Memorandum, which used the key words “access” or “accessing reproductive health care” seven times on three pages.  The Dobbs decision, however, affected only one type of “reproductive health care” – abortion.

DoD Instruction 1300.28, which expanded Defense Department regulations regarding transgender personnel, uses the word “access” for what is called “gender affirming care” seventeen times on twenty-two pages. 

A Trump Administration panel of experts assessing costs of transgender policies implemented under Barack Obama reported a 300% increase in medical costs for 994 active-duty service members diagnosed with gender dysphoria.  Some commanders had to divert operational and maintenance funds to pay for active-duty servicemembers' travel throughout the United States to obtain specialized “transition” treatments and surgeries. 

It is easy to predict where the activists and highly paid Pentagon “experts” are going with this.  Unrestricted abortion travel subsidies are setting a new precedent for Pentagon policy-making without a vote of Congress.

If Sen. Tuberville backs down on abortion subsidies, demands for free travel expenses and time off for military personnel seeking sex-denying treatments and surgeries for adults and dependent children will be next.  The woke Biden administration has made it clear that “access” in matters of civil rights allows nothing less. 

Transgender Family Plans

The Daily Caller recently reported that the Department of Defense is quietly using Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) funds to reimburse the travel expenses of parents seeking transgender treatments for their children.  The program provides supportive options, including exemption from deployments for parents whose children require specialized medical treatments. 

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) successfully sponsored an amendment to the House National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to prohibit the DoD from using EFMP funds for “gender transition procedures.”  Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) introduced a measure that also passed the House, which would end DoD abortion travel subsidies that Congress did not vote for. 

If conferees remove these provisions from the NDAA before final passage, nothing will stand in the way of unilateral Defense Department travel subsidies -- not just for non-covered abortions, but also for very expensive “medically necessary” transition treatments for adults and children in states where they are legal.

Transgender Travel and Treatments – Cui Bono?

The primary beneficiaries of these funds will be organizations like Planned Parenthood and medical facilities funded by the extremely wealthy J.B & M.K. Pritzker Foundation. 

Investigative journalist Jennifer Bilek has reported that the Pritzker family of billionaires and related philanthropic outfits promote “synthetic sexual identities,” known as SSI, by pouring millions into the leftist Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH). 

These and other leftist groups currently are advising the Department of Defense on transgender policies.  Before the Pentagon unilaterally spends millions for expanded transgender treatments, surgeries, and travel without a vote, Congress should investigate current expenditures and intervene.

The Defense Department exists to defend the country, not to spend taxpayers’ money on controversial medical procedures.  Sen. Tuberville should continue to stand firm, Congress should lend support in the pending defense bill, and Secretary Austin should rescind the policies that triggered the confirmation impasse without further delay. 

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