There is no indication that the Defense Department will soon be changing the policy that Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) has used as an excuse for objecting to hundreds of military nominations and promotions, crippling the normally orderly progression of personnel. In a recent talk, the current Army Secretary shared as much.
The policy at issue is the military’s travel support for individuals seeking an abortion. After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and its national protections for abortion and related care, individual Republican-led states began pursuing new bans, which left the country facing effectively a patchwork of access to the reproductive health care that previously was broadly available. Relatedly, some states with Democratic leaders have pursued specific policies to block the cooperation with any out-of-state investigation into or case around someone having gone to the Democrats’ state to obtain an abortion or related care.
As for Tuberville, he’s characterized the Defense Department as now funding abortion, though that description isn’t strictly accurate, according to available details. The Defense Department assistance goes to travel costs for pursuing such care.
“It’s the right thing to do, and I don’t think we’re going to change it,” Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said of the policy. She also characterized the issue as safeguarding retention, since pregnant service members left unable to access an abortion may leave the military. Wormuth also described Tuberville’s forced upending of personnel plans across the military as potentially leading to exits from the service. “I really worry that we’re going to have a brain and talent drain as a result of this really unprecedented step that Sen. Tuberville has chosen,” the top official said.
Wormuth was speaking with an NBC journalist at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado. Other top officials from the Biden administration were also participating in the event. That list included Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, and presidential national security adviser Jake Sullivan, among others.
