". . . and having done all . . . stand firm." Eph. 6:13

Commentary

Tuberville on His Military Abortion Blockade: ‘I Have the Power, and They’re Panicking’

April 26, 2023

In the military, most men and women would do anything to save a life. They’ll jump on grenades, parachute into enemy territory, walk across landmines. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) isn’t asking them to do any of that for the lives on the line with Pentagon’s new abortion policy. All he’s requesting is that a couple hundred flag officers wait a little longer for their promotions — an inconvenience that could save as many as 4,000 innocent lives. Who could possibly object to that? Radical Democrats, of course. 

On Tuesday, abortion zealot Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) went on a tirade over Tuberville’s decision to hold up flag officer promotions until the Biden administration backs off its unconstitutional abortion expansion. “Holding up the promotion of every single military nominee isn’t democracy,” Warren ranted, “it’s extortion. That kind of extortion has serious consequences for our national defense. These holds pose a grave threat to our national security and to our military readiness. They actively hurt our ability to respond quickly to threats around the world.”

Funny how Warren is suddenly concerned about military readiness, since it hasn’t seemed to factor into any of the Democrats’ policies detracting from it — transgenderism in the ranks, unconstitutional vaccine mandates, CRT and pronoun trainings, and diversity, equity, and inclusion classes. The only war the president’s party seems intent on fighting is the cultural one.

Yet Warren wasn’t the only one raising a ruckus. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) insisted that “what’s happening” because of Tuberville’s “charade” is “not only dangerous, but it’s insulting. That’s the only word that can be used for one senator to hold up 184 men and women and their promotions in the military. I never thought I’d see that day in the United States Senate.”

In that case, Durbin must have been AWOL the day that Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) threatened to hold up the promotions of more than 1,100 senior Army officers if the Trump White House blocked their impeachment witness, Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman, from advancement. 

Either way, Tuberville made it clear where the blame for this situation really lies. “This is Secretary [Lloyd] Austin’s choice, not mine. He knew the consequences for months” of his radical abortion expansion. “I’m not going to budge,” he assured his Democratic colleagues. “I will come down here as many times as it takes — day and night — to vote. I’m not afraid to vote.”

Later, on “Washington Watch,” he told Family Research Council President Tony Perkins that this isn’t just about abortion. It’s about a “tyrannical executive branch walking all over the United States Senate and doing our jobs.” 

“This White House [is] dictating now from their purview,” Tuberville shook his head. “They’re turning into Canada and a lot of the European countries [with] one single leader. [They] don’t worry about going through Congress. Don’t worry about going through proper order. They just push things on the American people. You can’t force taxpayers to pay for abortion. That’s a law,” he pointed out. “Been a long law a long time. … And it’s worked pretty good,” Tuberville said, pointing out that the Pentagon has only approved about 20 abortions a year under the exceptions of rape, incest, and life of the mother.

Nobody had a problem with that policy until the Dobbs decision, the famous football coach explained. Now, they want to force as much taxpayer-funded abortion on the country as possible, “so they’re allowing abortions at any time in the military for any reason. Also, their dependents, they’ll fly them anywhere they want to go. They’ll pay them for three weeks. And who’s paying for it? The taxpayer is. Well, the Hyde Amendment says that’s against the law. But these people don’t worry about the law.” 

Tuberville is planning to make them care. “They have the power, but now I have the power. One senator has got the power to put a hold on anything. And they are panicking. They don’t know what to do. But I can give them [something] to do: go back to the old policy.” 

Of course, the Alabama icon said, “It’s not really about the military guys, and it’s not about the [Department of Veterans Affairs]. It’s about them controlling our country and doing what they want to do. … They’re circumventing every rule they possibly can. They said, ‘What can we do? How can we give more and more abortions? How can we make the taxpayers pay for it? Well, let’s look at this. The VA, we can do that.’” 

Under this new rule, Perkins pointed out, “it’s estimated that the number [of military abortions] will grow from [20 per year] to over 4,000. That’s over 200 times the number of abortions that would be performed under this policy. This isn’t parity. This is expansion.” 

Like a lot of Republicans, he’s been frustrated by the GOP’s timidity on the life issue. “We need more and more people to step up. … You know, if we’re going to be pro-life, let’s be pro-life. You can’t ride the fence.” Too many people are focused on protecting their seats, Tuberville warned. “I’ve been up here two years, and that’s all people try to do is get reelected. They like power. They like the prestige of all of this. … [But] we’re working for the people; we’re not up here for us.”

If that means he’s not popular, so be it. “They’ve called me every name in the book,” Tuberville said. “And I told them, ‘Listen, I coached college football for 40 years. I’ve already been called everything. That doesn’t bother me.’ I’m doing the work for the American people. … And the Constitution backs the law, [which] says … taxpayer money cannot be used for abortion. Done deal. Game, Set. Match.”

Suzanne Bowdey serves as editorial director and senior writer at The Washington Stand.