Late last year, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) threatened to put a hold on more than 160 promotions for military officers and commanders over the Pentagon’s policy to go around states with restrictive laws on elective abortions in the wake of last year’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision.
Tuberville followed through with his threat last month. His Alabama U.S. Senate colleague Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) backed Tuberville on the effort and questioned Department of Defense priorities and a possible violation of the Hyde Amendment, which forbids federal taxpayer money to be used for abortions.
“We must protect life, and Coach [Tuberville] had obviously had conversations before I even got to the Senate about DoD policies, and he is standing firm,” she said during an interview with Mobile, AL radio’s FM Talk 106.5 on Friday. “The Department of Defense should actually be doing the real work that they’re supposed to be doing, which is making sure that our warfighters are the best equipped, the best resourced and the best trained in the world. Never should they be using any type of funding to promote or support abortion. For years, we have obviously agreed on the Hyde Amendment in a bipartisan way, saying we would never let taxpayer money be used to fund abortion.”
“I was proud to stand alongside Coach and vote for his CRA when it came to the VA and make sure we’re not using these funds in this way in the VA,” Katie Britt continued. “And I have signed on to Joni Ernst’s bill saying the DoD should not be able to do this. I think we have to continue to make sure that the people understand it is Democrat who are extreme, and they are continuing to try to chip away at the longstanding bipartisan consensus that taxpayer dollars should not and will not fund abortions.”
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