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Monday, October 7, 2024 - 07:51 PM

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

First Published in 1994

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

Abortion Provisions in Military Defense Bill

This past week, the Senate began committee markup of the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA. As you may recall, the NDAA made headlines this past year for its inclusion of a provision that would draft our daughters into the Military Selective Service. While the final version of the FY 2022 NDAA did not include this provision, it certainly was a hard-fought win.

The NDAA has become a bill that is used as a placeholder for items on the Leftist wish list, rather than maintaining and boosting our national defense. The legislation is often littered with woke policy measures, like diversity and inclusion training and amnesty measures for illegal immigrants.

Now considering the possible overturn of Roe v. Wade, Democrats are attempting to use the NDAA as a vehicle to advance the abortion machine. According to the Military Times, numerous lawmakers have asked for defense officials to clarify rules regarding leave time and travel assistance if female troops seek an abortion across state lines. Army officials have said they are looking into the issue.”

Democrat lawmakers justify this by making it a military “readiness” issue or, rather, a matter of convenience. As Representative Jackie Speier (D-CA) said, “If readiness is impacted by the fact that women are going to have to travel thousands of miles when they are in need of an abortion service, then we need to look at that.”

On Tuesday, Military.com reported that “a draft of the fiscal 2023 defense spending bill released Tuesday by House Appropriations Committee Democrats would not allow the Pentagon “to deny leave for any member of the Armed Forces or civilian employee of the Department of Defense … who is pregnant and requests leave to obtain an abortion” or “is the spouse, partner, or significant other of a pregnant individual and requests leave to assist that individual in obtaining an abortion.”

This comes as a group of Senators sent a letter to the Pentagon asking the DOD to “consider implementing policy changes to allow servicemembers to obtain…special liberty…to travel out of state for reproductive healthcare and abortions if they are stationed in a jurisdiction that curtails these rights after the Dobbs decision is issued.”

Democrats should instead focus on creating an NDAA proposal that advances American freedom and security. There are a lot of other alarming issues facing our national defense! We can only hope that they remember that Americans consistently reject legislation that forces them to pay for abortions through their hard-earned tax dollars. Eagle Forum will continue to monitor the development of the FY 2023 NDAA and alert you of any concerning provisions.