Tuberville Is Still Taking a Stand for Babies – The American Spectator

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) was a fine college football coach, notable for his success at Auburn. But so far, his political record lags behind. He faces not only the abortion lobby, the Democratic establishment, and the mainstream press but also dubious conservative friends.

His latest Republican critic is presidential candidate Nikki Haley, who joined the loud chorus criticizing his attempt to hold the Pentagon accountable for apparently violating the Hyde Amendment, which bans the use of federal funds to underwrite abortion. (Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin admitted that the Department of Defense cannot provide abortions but contends that it can help pay for service members to get abortions, a dubious distinction.) Before her, columnist and radio host Hugh Hewitt made similar criticisms.

Approved when Roe v. Wade was the law of the land, the amendment’s principle is simple: Even if you have a legal right to terminate a pregnancy, you cannot conscript taxpayers to pay for the abortion. This hardly seemed unreasonable given the strength and depth of opposition to what amounts to the taking of innocent life. Until he became a presidential candidate for the second time, Joe Biden, a longtime Delaware senator, supported this policy, but then he surrendered to the progressive notion that true liberalism requires refusing the slightest accommodation, toleration, and respect for dissenters. Instead, the recalcitrant must be forced into line — in this case, forced to support what they abhor — all in the name of social justice and the like.

The administration applied this principle to abortion after the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization last year, reversing its infamous act of judicial legislation a half-century before in Roe. Hysteria enveloped the Left at the thought that a highly political issue would be returned to the political process as was intended by the Constitution. Since abortion access would now vary by state — this is, after all, what federalism is all about — the Department of Defense said it would offer leave and cover transportation expenses for military personnel to get abortions. Conveniently, the Pentagon announced its new policy in October, right before the off-year elections.

The DOD’s argument is not that service personnel should have equal access to abortion but that they should have unrestricted access to the procedure. The Biden administration’s policy is not the public’s position. Polls show that a majority of Americans have consistently believed that abortion should be legal only in certain circumstances. However much access is desired by some, abortion is not a constitutional right and is not the only important access issue. For instance, states vary in the availability of other medical procedures, licensure of professions such as law and medicine, and generosity of welfare payments. Moreover, the availability of abortion elsewhere means all military personnel still have access to abortion, but on their own time and with their own money, rather than everyone else’s. There is no general right to kill one’s baby whether the person is in or out of uniform. (READ MORE: Nefarious HIPAA Change Could Undermine Pro-Life Laws)

If Congress wants to change this policy, it should vote on the legislation, authorize the expenditure, and provide the money. The presidency is not an elective dictatorship. Only the legislature can approve funding. If Democrats are convinced that the public is with them, then they should make the issue a priority and run on it if they fail to win congressional approval. The abortion lobby, however, is used to having non-elected actors steal victories without putting legislators to the test. With the Democrats in charge of the executive branch and Senate, they simply claim the power to act and refuse to allow any challenge.

Hence Tuberville’s resistance. To protest the Pentagon’s legal dereliction, he has slowed the approval of senior military officers. This is a crude tool, no doubt, but he has no other effective way to hold the administration to account. Getting the Senate to hold a vote is not enough. Since the Hyde Amendment is law, Congress must affirmatively authorize the Pentagon’s new policy. Requiring Congress to block current policy, the position of the president and Senate Democratic leadership would ensure the continuation of the administration’s law-breaking.

Moreover, contra the assumption of many, Tuberville is not preventing the Senate from voting to confirm senior military officers. Rather, he is forcing the Senate to vote to confirm senior military officers. The body typically batches together senior military promotions for approval, which requires unanimous consent. By voting no, he blocks that process, requiring each nomination to be okayed separately.

Which has thrown all the usual suspects into the usual tizzy. Since they are on the side of the angels, Tuberville obviously is the villain. Insisted Bloomberg’s editors, “Tuberville is single-handedly blocking the Pentagon from putting its best team on the field — and harming the country’s security in the process.” Biden said the senator was “undermining the military.”

Politicians, ever prepared to play politics with the armed forces, contend that Tuberville is threatening the readiness of the military. The abortion lobby asks how we can prepare to fight wars against Russia and China, and maybe Iran and North Korea as well, if we haven’t filled every one of the vastly inflated number of general officer positions. We are meant to worry that authoritarianism may triumph over democracy and all that is good and decent in the universe if Tuberville has his way.

This is errant nonsense, of course. He responds that the Senate is free to vote, and if it did so, he would support most of the nominees. If legislative leaders are so worried about keeping up, then they could stop wasting floor time denouncing him. Wrote Tuberville:

I’ve said all along that I will drop my hold on unanimous consent under only two conditions: Democrats can follow the law or change the law. This is not too much to ask. In practice this means that, if the Democrats want to rush through these nominations by unanimous consent, then either the Pentagon must suspend the policy memo or Congress must pass legislation authorizing the policy.

Another alternative would be to amend Senate rules and allow batching and rushing nominations through the floor. That would trim the prerogatives of all members, however, and has garnered no support. Democrats, as well as Republicans, jealously guard their power to often delay and sometimes halt action on both appointments and legislation. What was all the blather about U.S. security being at risk? Never mind! (READ MORE: Ohio Rejected Issue One: The Fight to Keep Abortion Out of the Constitution Begins)

Republicans share the blame for turning claims of “national security” into an almost magic talisman to override everything else. However, such arguments should be seriously assessed. More often than not, they simply are not true — as in this case.

Moreover, the purpose of the U.S. military is to protect America — its people and territory, most obviously. However, an important aspect of doing so is defending the country’s underlying constitutional system and the rule of law. Delaying promotions might be inconvenient for DOD and unfortunate for the people involved, but, as Tuberville noted, acting officials currently fill those positions. Rather than work harder to speed the approval process, Democrats hope to use the issue for political gain. They expect to both spend public money illegally and collect votes in the upcoming election, a solid lefty twofer. Tuberville’s stand has gotten in the way.

Executive branch law-breaking has become common, indeed, “normal.” Almost everyone sees Tuberville as the outlier. However, despite the endless obloquy tossed his way, he is performing a service for the nation — and especially the unborn lives currently at risk.

Doug Bandow is a former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan and is the author of  The Politics of Plunder: Misgovernment in Washington. A graduate of Stanford Law School, he is a member of the California and Washington, D.C, bars.