Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama said he will place a hold on civilian and military Defense Department nominees that come before the Senate in response to the department’s “radical” new policy to provide transportation and paid leave for service members seeking abortions.
“The Secretary of Defense is following through with his radical plan to facilitate thousands of abortions a year with taxpayer dollars,” Tuberville told The Epoch Times in a Feb. 17 statement. “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.”
Slated to take effect within the next month, the controversial new policy would grant up to 21 days of paid leave for military members looking to either personally obtain an abortion or accompany a spouse or other dependent for the procedure.
Created at the direction of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the policy also covers travel and transportation costs for those who cannot access such services locally.
“As I’ve stated, if Secretary Austin wants to change law, he should go through Congress,” the senator said. “This is an illegal expansion of DOD authority and a gross misuse of taxpayer dollars—and I will hold him accountable. The American people want a military focused on national defense, not facilitating a progressive political agenda.”
Typically, the vast majority of the president’s appointments are confirmed by the Senate without incident—a process that is often expedited with the help of unanimous consent. If just one senator objects, however, a full vote of the Senate would be required.
Currently, there are six pending Defense Department nominees that Tuberville could place on hold.
In December, Tuberville sent a letter (pdf) warning the defense secretary of his intention to hold up department nominees if the “illegal” changes were implemented.
Austin, in issuing the directive to create the policy, had argued that the Supreme Court’s June 24 ruling that abortion is not a constitutionally protected right had negatively affected the U.S. military.
“The recent Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization has impacted access to reproductive health care with readiness, recruiting, and retention implications for the Force,” he asserted in the Oct. 20 memo, noting that some service members had expressed concerns about their future abilities to access abortion services.
But Tuberville, speaking on the Senate floor Monday, took aim at Austin’s implication that greater access to abortion services would improve the readiness of America’s troops.
“The department has averaged less than 20 abortions per year for many, many years. Averaged only 20,” he said. “So, does this—potentially restricting less than 20 procedures a year—sound like a threat to our military readiness? It does not.
“This isn’t about readiness, it’s about politics,” the senator added, noting that American taxpayers would ultimately be the ones footing the bill.
Pro-life organizations have also expressed disgust over the policy, including Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser, who described it as an “extreme assault on the unborn.”
“The Biden-Harris administration has turned to outright lawlessness to impose abortion without any limits right up to birth, paid for by taxpayers, in all 50 states,” she said in a Feb. 16 statement.
“Our nation is at its best when defending the lives and rights of the most innocent and vulnerable,” she added, thanking Tuberville for his stated plans.
In response to a query about Tuberville’s move, a Pentagon spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email that the department has “nothing to provide on this.”