Defense Department won’t budge on abortion policy amid Tuberville standoff
Mike Brest
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The Department of Defense will not change its policy regarding reproductive healthcare, which Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) is protesting by holding up more than 300 defense promotions or confirmations, according to a top spokeswoman.
Earlier this year, DOD announced it would provide time off to service members and reimburse them for the travel expenses incurred should they or a dependent have to travel across state lines for an abortion, or other reproductive healthcare procedures, that were barred by local laws. In protest of the policy, Tuberville has held up every DOD nomination or promotion since February.
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Deputy Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh reiterated on Tuesday that the department would not be changing its policy, explaining that DOD is attempting to ensure that every service member has the same access to healthcare regardless of where they’re stationed.
“No, we’re not going to change our policy on ensuring that every single service member has equitable access to reproductive healthcare,” she explained. “If you are a service member stationed in a state that has rolled back or restricted healthcare access, you are often stationed there because you were assigned there, it is not that you chose to go there. And so a service member in Alabama deserves to have the same access to healthcare as a service member in California, as a service member stationed in Korea.
“It’s not an abortion policy,” Singh argued. “That department does not have an abortion policy. We have a healthcare policy and we have a travel policy that allows for our service members to take advantage of healthcare that should be accessible to them.”
Earlier this week, the Navy became the third military branch to have its top official retire without a Senate-confirmed successor due to the ongoing standoff.
Adm. Mike Gilday completed his four-year tenure as the chief of naval operations on Monday during a relinquishment of office ceremony, while the vice CNO, Adm. Lisa Franchetti, whom President Joe Biden nominated to fill the vacancy, assumed the role in an acting capacity.
Gen. James McConville, the former chief of staff of the Army, and Gen. David Berger, the former Marine commandant, stepped down from their positions in recent weeks as well, leaving their deputies to fill the role in an acting capacity because Biden’s nominations have yet to be confirmed.
“For the first time in the history of the Department of Defense, three of our military services are operating without Senate-confirmed leaders,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said during Gilday’s relinquishment of responsibilities ceremony. “This is unprecedented. It is unnecessary. And it is unsafe.”
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Singh, when asked how this standoff will end, urged reporters to ask the Alabama senator.
“We’ve been very clear, we don’t have anything to negotiate with here. We continue to urge the Senate to confirm our outstanding nominees,” she explained. “These are nominees that have enjoyed bipartisan support in multiple administrations. So I’d really pose that question to the senator.”
Tuberville’s office denies that he is holding up nominations because Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) could bring the individual nominations to a solitary vote instead of passing them in batches via unanimous consent. Schumer has shown no indication he plans to go around Tuberville’s hold.