Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) is leading a letter with 40 other Republicans demanding the Pentagon rescind its new policy to use American taxpayer money to pay for travel and transportation costs of troops seeking out-of-state abortions, Breitbart News has learned first.
“Among several policy changes, this memo directs the unprecedented use of American taxpayer dollars to facilitate abortions for service members and their families, against the wishes of the American people from all walks of life,” the letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says.
Roy said in a statement to Breitbart News:
The United States military is facing a historic recruiting crisis as a result of wokeness and its strategically foolish COVID shot mandate. The Biden administration’s response is to kill more unborn Americans.
By creating an abortion travel slush fund with hard-earned taxpayer dollars, the Biden Administration is outright mocking the majority of Americans who oppose their tax dollars being used to end life in the womb.
Secretary Austin must immediately rescind this directive; it’s as abhorrent as it is unconscionable. And any Republican who votes to fund or authorize this in December should be asked one simple question: why?”
The Pentagon announced last week that it would pay for the travel and transportation of a service member and their family members seeking abortion if they are stationed in an area where they do not have access to it.
The military healthcare system is prohibited from performing abortions other than in the cast of rape or if the mother’s life is at risk, and military health care does not cover abortions outside of those cases.
However, the Biden Pentagon is attempting to get around those prohibitions by funding the travel and transportation costs of troops and their family members seeking abortions instead of funding the actual abortion procedure.
“This move represents an unprecedented politicization of our Armed Forces, which has unfortunately been a hallmark of the Biden Administration from the start,” the letter says.
It adds:
Your decision to bypass Congress and establish a DoD abortion travel fund flies in the face of nearly a half-century of bipartisan consensus to respect the sincere beliefs of millions of pro-life Americans by restraining the federal government from using taxpayer dollars to fund most abortions. It is even more disgraceful that you are using our brave service members and their families – tasked with providing for our nation’s security – as the vehicle to push this extreme policy on the American public.
The Pentagon’s policy change came just three weeks ahead of the midterm elections, which the Biden administration and Democrats have been attempting to turn into a vote for abortion rights.
“This obvious political gamesmanship will only serve to further undermine Americans’ trust in the U.S. Armed Forces and further hamstring future military recruitment efforts,” the letter said. “We demand the immediate rescission of this unconscionable directive.”
The other Republican signatories of the letter include: Jeff Duncan, Dan Bishop, Michael Cloud, Tim Burchett, Bob Good, Mary E. Miller, Jake Ellzey, Randy K. Weber, Vicky Hartzler, Warren Davidson, Kevin Hern, Louie Gohmert, Lauren Boebert, Clay Higgins, Roger Williams, Diana Harshbarger, Doug Lamborn, Jim Banks, Mike Johnson, W. Gregrory Steube, Gus M. Bilirakis, Ben Cline, Elise M. Stefanik, Burgess Owens, Bruce Westerman, Andy Biggs, Michael Waltz, Brad Finstad, Ralph Norman, Barry Moore, Ann Wagner, Michael Guest, Debbie Lesko, Jack Bergman, John Moonelaar, Bill Posey, Brian Mast, Mark E. Green, Scott Franklin, and Ronny L. Jackson, M.D.
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