Sen. Tommy Tuberville on Monday tore into the Biden administration on the Senate floor over its decision to use the Departments of Defense and Veterans Administration to promote abortion and called those steps an "extreme" abuse of power that’s out of step with most Americans.
In the wake of last year’s Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the Pentagon has said it would fly service members to different states in order to access abortion services if needed, while the VA announced it would start performing abortions in limited cases. Tuberville, R-Ala., called those decisions a "shameful" attempt to use national security resources to pursue a far-left agenda.
"We believe our military and VA should be focused on national defense and veterans, not politics," he said on the Senate floor. "Using our military and fake emergencies to make sure there are no limits on abortion is absolutely, positively shameful. It’s embarrassing to our country."
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Tuberville said that when the Pentagon briefed senators on its decision, it insisted that the ruling overturning of Roe v. Wade that handed abortion back to the states would have "extreme impacts" on military readiness. But in the briefing, the Pentagon said an average of about 20 abortions per year are performed among service members.
"This isn’t about readiness, it’s about politics," Tuberville said, adding that the Pentagon is using taxpayer funds to pay for time off and fly people around the country.
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"It’s ridiculous, it’s against the law, and they know it," he said.
He also called the VA decision to start performing abortions an "unconstitutional abuse of the government" that should "not be tolerated."
Tuberville said the push to use the Pentagon and VA to support the Democrats’ abortion policy shows the extent to which they support an "extreme, heartless and inhumane abortion agenda." And he said Democrats are "misusing" the federal government in this way because they are beholden to extreme progressives.
"Democrats frequently reject commonsense proposals but support extreme policies put forward by the far, far left wing of their party," he said. "Liberal representatives have to do this because they’re aligned with a woke mob that will cancel them if they disagree."
"His administration is set on taking this country apart from the inside out," he said of President Biden.
The VA has been sued by an employee over the decision to perform abortions, and Senate Republicans are hoping to pass a resolution rejecting the VA rule allowing this policy change.
