House Republicans are fighting Democrats’ efforts this week to force taxpayers to fund the elective killing of unborn babies in abortions in the U.S. Military.
Through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual military spending bill, Republican lawmakers hope to stop a radical new Biden administration policy that does exactly that. But pro-abortion Democrat leaders and media outlets already are attacking them for it.
Both the U.S. House and Senate plan to debate the NDAA this week, along with more than 1,500 amendments proposed by lawmakers, the Catholic News Agency reports.
One amendment sponsored by U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, would prohibit the Pentagon from using tax dollars to pay for abortions or reimburse military members and their dependents for travel and other related expenses for abortions. Exceptions would be allowed in cases of rape, incest or threats to the mother’s life.
“Taxpayer dollars should NEVER fund travel for abortions, especially if those dollars are meant for our military,” Jackson wrote Monday on Twitter. “U.S. Rep. Chip Roy and I are leading the charge to DEFUND this. This policy is a DISGRACE!! We will end it!”
If it passes, Jackson’s amendment would end a new pro-abortion Department of Defense policy by the Biden administration that forces taxpayers to fund travel expenses and paid time off for military members and their dependents to have elective abortions.
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The pro-life amendment has the support of the House Freedom Caucus and leading pro-life organizations. Republicans control the House and almost all of them are pro-life, so the measure has a good chance of passing.
The problem is the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate where only one Democrat is moderately pro-life and two Republicans are pro-abortion.
According to The Hill, Senate Democrats are threatening to block so-called “poison pills” in the spending bill, meaning measures like Jackson’s that do not align with their radical pro-abortion agenda.
“They know it’s unpopular, their policy position, people believe in abortion rights, and reproductive rights, and so they’re trying to do things through a more hidden process,” said U.S. Rep. Ro Khana, D-California.
Actually, Democrat leaders’ agenda supporting abortions through all nine months, paid for by taxpayers is the extreme position among voters. A new Marist poll found 60 percent of Americans oppose using tax dollars to fund abortions in the U.S. Additionally, 78 percent oppose using tax dollars to fund abortions in other countries. Another new poll from the AP/NORC found 68 percent oppose laws allowing abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Ignoring Americans’ concerns, nearly 100 House Democrats with the New Democrat Coalition issued a statement Tuesday demanding that Republicans allow Biden’s pro-abortion military policy to stay in place, according to CNA.
“As the House prepares to consider the Fiscal Year 2024 NDAA, Speaker McCarthy must choose between caving to the most extreme elements of his party that seek to compromise our national defense or working with sensible lawmakers to support all of our troops,” the Democrat coalition said. “Each year, the NDAA passes with overwhelming bipartisan majorities, and this year should be no different.”
Bans on taxpayer funding for elective abortions used to have strong bipartisan support in Congress. Only recently did Democrat leaders abandon the American people on the issue and begin supporting taxpayer funding for elective abortions – a goal of the billion-dollar abortion industry, which spends huge amounts of money on elections.
Jackson reminded his peers that the Biden administration policy violates federal law in an interview Tuesday with the Family Research Council’s “Washington Watch” with Tony Perkins.
“It’s against the law to use money in the DOD to pay for abortions, so this is just a complete disregard for the law,” Jackson said. “So, what we’re doing is putting in an amendment into the NDAA to specify in no uncertain terms that money in the DOD will not be used to provide abortion services, it will not happen.”
