The Pentagon’s announcement that it would no longer allow taxpayer-funded abortion travel came after Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) spent two years fighting against the controversial Biden administration policy. Tuberville will be the first to admit it was hard work, pushing against this agenda. And yet, he was also quick to emphatically state that “it was all worth it.”

As The Washington Stand argued, the now scrapped policy had a cost of “somewhere around $1 million a year — money that should have been going to the military’s mission, not taking aim at the unborn.” But now, it is a thing of the past, and GOP lawmakers look forward to an even brighter future, especially Tuberville.

On Tuesday’s “Washington Watch,” Family Research Council President Tony Perkins spoke with the senator about the reversal and what it means for the future. “Coach,” Perkins stated, “for the past two years, you’ve been sounding the alarm about the Pentagon’s illegal and immoral practice of using taxpayer dollars to fund abortions. … [F]rankly, you stood alone with just a few other members of the Senate standing with you on this.”

Perkins went on to address how Tuberville had conversations with President Donald Trump’s newly appointed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth about the abortion travel policy. “What can you tell us about those conversations that led to this decision that that’s no longer going to be acceptable in the military?”

“Well first,” Tuberville responded, “thanks to you for standing with me in this long” fight. As for former President Joe Biden’s policy, Tuberville explained how “the lawless Biden administration [was] basically doing the work of a dictator … [by] changing everything the way that they wanted it.” But the Biden administration “paying for military personnel to fly anywhere they wanted to go on the taxpayers’ dime for an abortion was absolutely against the Hyde Amendment. It was against anything that the American people had stood for and voted against.”

But now, he added, “Pete Hegseth and I, we sat down and talked about it … [and] he was totally with me. [A] lot of people [are] on board with this. I want to thank President Trump for doing this very early, [by] helping the American taxpayers really understand that this was not a law. This was just done by a dictator in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue that … told the American taxpayer, ‘We’re going to do this no matter what you want.’”

Concerning Tuberville’s largely solo battle, Perkins stated how “this is one of those examples where … a lone voice … crying in the wilderness can make a difference over time. I know there’s a lot of people making … victory laps on this now, but the track was pretty empty when it came time to stand for this.” Perkins noted how there were several instances in which Tuberville was on the Senate floor going “against” some of his Republican colleagues. “I want to thank you for taking a principled stand for the sanctity of human life and for the taxpayers who have historically not been forced to pay for abortion,” Perkins stated.

Ultimately, Perkins contended, Tuberville’s efforts serve as “an example of when something is right and you believe in it, you should take a stand for it.” Tuberville recalled that there came a point when he was regarded as “enemy number one” for some people at the Pentagon. “I had death threats,” he emphasized. But more than the death threats, what the senator found unsettling was the lack of unity among Republicans. “[Y]ou’d think … [we would] come together on this issue and … stand beside [a] fellow senator. … I just hated that Republicans sided with the Democrats on an abortion issue that is dead wrong.”

But as Perkins noted, “[S]ometimes you regroup for another day. And by bringing attention to this issue and being willing to fight on this issue, you have now seen it resolved with a new administration coming in.” As Tuberville previously said in a statement, “Thank God common sense has been restored to our military under President Trump’s leadership.”