House Republicans today defeated a Democrat motion that would essentially endorse Joe Biden’s policy forcing Americans to fund abortion travel for members of the military.
Democrats put forward a motion to send a Department of Defense funding bill back to committee and remove a pro-life movement that would overturn Biden’s pro-abortion policy. But Republicans defeated that motion on a 214-204 vote. Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives – Vote Details
Every single Republican who voted today voted against the Democrats’ pro-abortion motion while every single Democrat who voted today voted for Biden’s abortion travel policy. Some 14 members did not vote.
“Current federal DOD law already permits taxpayer funding of abortion in cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother,” Congressman Chris Smith said before the vote. “But the Biden DOD abortion travel policy forces taxpayers to pay the transportation costs for military members and dependents to travel to procure an abortion, for any reason, right up until the moment of birth.”
“Dr. Ronny Jackson’s House-passed amendment to the NDAA overturns the illegal DOD abortion travel policy. Regrettably, the pro-abortion culture of denial—a modern-day flat earth society— continues to deny, devalue, and disrespect unborn baby girls and boys and trivialize the harm suffered by women,” he added. “Don’t force taxpayers to facilitate abortion on demand.”
Some states like my state of New Jersey have enacted extremist laws that legally sanction the killing a baby for any reason whatsoever right up to the moment of birth.
The Biden policy has no limits on gestational age—so it facilitates aborting babies throughout all nine months of pregnancy.
Section 716 of the bill contains a pro-life amendment that responds to the Department of Defense (DOD) memorandum, dated October 20, 2022, which directed the DOD to pay the travel and transportation costs for military members and dependents to obtain elective abortions up to birth.
HELP LIFENEWS SAVE BABIES FROM ABORTION! Please help LifeNews.com with a donation!
Section 716 clarifies that federal law (10 U.S.C. § 1093) prevents the Department of Defense (DOD) from using any funds for elective abortion, including the travel and transportation required to obtain it.
The section also repeals the DOD memo and prohibits funds from being used to implement it or a successor memorandum. It also amends federal law to prohibit DOD from paying for anyone to get a license in a State for the purpose of doing abortions.
Unpopular and likely illegal, the Biden policy requires taxpayers to fund travel costs and paid time off for military service members and their families to abort their unborn babies in elective abortions. As a result, Republican leaders estimate 4,100 more unborn babies could be killed in abortions every year.
In response, House Republicans succeeded in passing the Jackson-Roy amendment to the NDAA.
The House voted 221-213 and 222-210 in July in favor of amendments to the NDAA to ban the Pentagon from paying for expenses related to killing unborn babies and from funding gender transition procedures.
“My amendment to stop Biden from using the DOD to pay for abortion travel passed This policy is illegal, and soon, it will be gone. This is a great day for our country,” said pro-life Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson after the vote.
Jackson said that the pro-life amendment “will halt the Biden administration’s illegal and immoral abortion policy” for members of the armed forces and their families.
SUPPORT LIFENEWS! To help us fight Joe Biden’s abortion agenda, please help LifeNews.com with a donation!
“Taxpayer funding of travel for an abortion is in fact taxpayer-funded abortion, and this administration has been enacting policies across the government in clear violation of the law,” Jackson said. “The Biden administration has sidestepped existing statute and given the [Defense] Department permission to take this illegal course of action. This has left House Republicans with no choice but to take corrective measures and pass additional legislation.”
Leading pro-life groups also celebrated the vote which comes at a time when pro-life Senator Tommy Tuberville is blocking military nominees in an effort to get the polic canceled.
“We praise House GOP leadership for their work in preventing taxpayer funds from illegally being used to pay for or reimburse expenses related to abortion travel,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “The Biden Administration has shown repeatedly that it thinks taxpayers are a never-ending source of funds for its abortion agenda.”
Continued Tobias, “The Jackson Amendment in the NDAA prevents the Biden Administration from circumventing established law.”
Federal law (10 U.S.C. § 1093) has long prevented the Department of Defense (DOD) from using funds to perform elective abortions and prevented the DOD from using its facilities to provide abortions. On October 20, 2022, the Biden Administration’s DOD published a memorandum directing the DOD to pay the travel and transportation costs for military members and dependents who travel to obtain elective abortions.
The federal prohibition against DOD funding of elective abortion clearly extends to funding for any item related to abortion, such as travel and transportation, which has been the case for the entire life of the funding prohibition.
The Jackson Amendment:
- Clarifies and explains federal law (10 U.S.C. § 1093) that prevents DOD funding from being used to perform elective abortions and prohibits DOD facilities from being used to provide abortions.
- Repeals the October 20, 2022 memorandum.
- Amends federal law to clarify that the DOD may not pay for the licensure of healthcare professionals in a state if the purpose is to provide abortions.
“Today the House took a powerful step toward reining in Biden’s illegal policy of taxpayer-funded abortion travel at the Department of Defense,” said SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “Representatives Jackson and Roy have courageously led the charge to force the administration to follow the four decades old law against taxpayer funding for abortion at the DOD. Now the House must send the Jackson-Roy amendment in the NDAA to the Senate, and then on to the president’s desk. We also applaud Speaker McCarthy, Leader Scalise, Chairman Rogers and Subcommittee Chairman Banks for their work to curtail this administration’s funding for brutal, painful abortions.”
Polls consistently show strong public opposition to taxpayer-funded abortions. 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.
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 abortion industry, which spends huge amounts of money on elections.
