DeSantis voices rare support for Tuberville holding up military promotions
Misty Severi
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Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) publicly supported Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) block on military promotions on Thursday, claiming the United States military is using “abortion tourism” instead of being mission oriented.
DeSantis claimed Tuberville, who has kept his hold on the promotions for five months, should not relinquish his hold on the promotions even as it leaves vacancies in military leadership. The hold is due to a Pentagon policy that pays for travel costs and paid time off for service members that are seeking abortions.
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“The reason is what the military’s policy is, is not following U.S. law, they are using tax dollars,” DeSantis told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Thursday. “They are funding abortion tourism, which is not an appropriate thing for the military to be doing. So I think our Republicans in the Congress should just take a stand on this. The DOD should stand down. We have all these other problems in our military. You know, we need more ammunition. We need more recruiting. We need all these other things, and yet they’re focusing on abortion tourism.”
DeSantis added that the policy would “go out the window” on day one if he becomes the next commander in chief. DeSantis is the only veteran running for office.
Tuberville has been meeting with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other senior Pentagon officials this past week, but no agreement has been reached so far. Pentagon officials also briefed members of Congress on the abortion policy on Wednesday.
“This is a taxpayer-funded abortion that nobody, I mean, nobody, voted for in this building or the other end of the building,” Tuberville said on Wednesday. “Democrats say my hold is unprecedented. Well, I will say this. Their abortion policy is unprecedented. We are here to make the law, not the Pentagon. Anyone who calls themselves pro-life needs to stand up and be counted right now.”
Republicans in both chambers have been hesitant to support Tuberville’s hold, despite not supporting the abortion policy. Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Ted Budd (R-NC) are among a handful of congress members to support Tuberville’s hold publicly. The hold has stalled nearly 300 promotions so far.
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“I’m here to stand in support of my friend and colleague from Alabama, Sen. Tuberville. As he stands in opposition, raises his legitimate objection, which I share, to the Department of Defense’s plan to use federal funds to facilitate the performance of abortions,” Lee said in March. “Let this be a message for Secretary Austin, if you want to make the laws, run for Congress, but you can’t legislate from the E-ring at the Pentagon. You cannot do that. Until then, stand down, and leave the lawmaking to lawmakers.”
DeSantis has become an important voice in the abortion arena since the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade last year, which returned the topic of abortion back to individual states. In Florida, abortions are illegal after six weeks, except in cases of rape, incest, and danger to the life of the mother. In those cases, the ban is after 15 weeks.