Over 3,000 veterans and active-duty troops said they reject the Pentagon’s “left-wing social agenda” and have thrown their support behind Sen. Tommy Tuberville, an Alabama Republican who vowed to block the promotion of hundreds of generals and flag officers until the Defense Department reverses its abortion policy.
According to a new letter shared with The Daily Signal, thousands of veterans and active-duty troops said they “firmly support” Tuberville in condemning the Defense Department’s “recently instituted policy of subsidizing abortions.”
“The undersigned stand united in condemning this policy,” the letter states. “This policy is not just illegal, it shamefully politicizes the military, circumvents the authority of Congress, and exceeds the authority of the Department of Defense.”
The former and current troops rejected the Pentagon’s claim that Tuberville’s position is “negatively impacting military readiness,” arguing military readiness is actually being diminished by the “politicized agenda of Secretary Austin and the Biden administration.”
“The American people, including its servicemembers, are disappointed by President Biden and Secretary Austin’s recent decisions to mandate receipt of the COVID-19 vaccines, promote the radical LGBT agenda, and now subsidize abortion,” the letter continues.
The group also asserted the U.S. military’s recruitment crisis is due to its “left-wing social agenda.”
“There is no truth more profound than the fact that all human life is sacred. The mission of the United States Military is to defend and protect all American lives – not subsidize the practice of destroying innocent and vulnerable American children via abortion with taxpayer dollars,” the letter adds.” By pledging to hold these nominations to the Department of Defense until administration officials reverse course, Senator Tuberville is doing a great service for the American people – including its service members.”
The letter was signed by 593 people, including Republican Reps. Eli Crane, Andrew Clyde, Ronny Jackson and Anna Paulina Luna. It also includes dozens of endorsers and partners with the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty “that represents the position of over 2,500 military chaplains.”
Last year, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the Pentagon will pay for troops’ travel to obtain abortions as part of a broader effort to “ensure access to reproductive health care.”
According to a Department of Defense memo signed by Austin at the time, the department must take “all appropriate action, within its authority and consistent with applicable federal law” to ensure U.S. troops have access to “reproductive health care.”
