"I've noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born." President Ronald Reagan
An item on the TV news this morning caught my attention. As the commentators continued, I became aware that for the first time in the Marine Corps history, they had no commandant. Since I am very interested in our military, this caused me to pay closer attention. Watching the news, I realized this was just the tip of the iceberg.
Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama was holding up the hearings for the promotion of 250 senior officers in the military. Now I was all ears. The advancement of colonels to generals was on hold. Generals advancing in grade were dead in their tracks. This hold or blocking of hearings had been going on for some time. What was Senator Tuberville up to?
In June of 2022, the Supreme Court struck down the Roe V. Wade Decision by eliminating the nearly 50-year-old constitutional right to abortion. In a 6-3 vote, the court gave the right to curtail or ban abortions to the States.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a near-total abortion ban bill designed to challenge more than 40 years of federal abortion protection under Roe v. Wade into law Wednesday.
The bill, which makes it a felony for a doctor to perform or attempt an abortion during any stage of pregnancy, was approved by the state's Senate late Tuesday night after a contentious floor debate.
Alabama legislators passed the bill 25-6 after denying an amendment that would have made exemptions for cases of rape and incest.1
"Heartbeat abortion" bans have also been signed into law in Mississippi, Kentucky, and Ohio this year. Lawmakers in Tennessee, Missouri, South Carolina, Florida, Texas, Louisiana, and West Virginia are considering similar proposals."
That is the history; now, what is this all about?
The U.S. Government decided to create a workaround for women in the military who wanted an abortion but could not travel to abortion-friendly states. This policy flies in the face of the Dobbs's decision to make abortion the purview of the states. ( I hate using Kareen Jene-Pierre's word)
“This new policy allows a woman and her spouse to hop on a plane and go anywhere they can kill their child and take up to three weeks to do it — and you foot the bill. The same applies to a dependent child who is pregnant. The parent or parents can go wherever with her and get an abortion. This new policy, by the way, was issued by the same Pentagon that couldn't figure out what do about Chinese spy balloons flying over America.”2
Lloyd Austin, The Secretary of Defense, and the Pentagon decided to install abortion
clinics on military bases so that pregnant women would not be breaking state law. Upon seeing the government's lawbreaking, Senator Tuberville chose to hit the military where it hurts. Tuberville refused to allow confirmation hearings on the advancement of officers in the military unless the abortion rules were lifted.
The Secretary of Defence, Austin's argument is,
"About one in five of our troops are women," Austin said at a May 11 Senate hearing. "I want them focused on the mission and not worried about whether or not they're going to have access to reproductive health care." 3
“The problem: The Pentagon is unlikely to cave because it could incentivize future holds to reverse controversial policies. Plus, Democrats who have rallied against Tuberville’s tactics and in favor of abortion rights would be furious.
“It also would reverse a policy that Austin has publicly defended on Capitol Hill. Faced with GOP arguments that the Pentagon is undercutting laws that bar funding for abortion, Austin has told lawmakers his policy is on firm legal footing and argued it’s important to ensure reproductive health access for women in the military.”4
Tuberville is trying to ride two horses at the same time. His state, Alabama, wants to have Space Force located at the Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, Alabama. Lawmakers from Colorado want Space Force to remain in Colorado, where it is temporarily located. Colorado's Democrat Senator Michael Bennet is the leading voice against moving Space Force from his state. Bennet also opposes the hold-up of the promotion of senior officers.
For the time being, we have a standoff. Secretary Austin and the Pentagon could make this go away. All they need to do is stop the abortions on U.S. military bases. Tuberville could relent and allow the confirmation hearings to proceed.
Who will blink first?
1 Doha Madani, Alabama governor signs controversial abortion ban bill into law, Decision 2020, NBC News, May 15, 2019, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/alabama-governor-signs-controversial-abortion-ban-bill-law-n1006211
2 Biden's Military Abortions, The Vortex, Church Militant, February 21, 2023, https://www.churchmilitant.com/video/episode/vort-bidens-military-abortions
3 Joe Gould, Connor O'Brian, How Tuberville's blockade of Pentagon nominees could end, Defence, Politico, May 22, 2023, https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/22/tuberville-pentagon-nominees-blockade-00098130
4Ibid
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