Tuberville, who never served in any branch of the US military, has drawn criticism from his Senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and some argue that he is hamstringing the US military by sending a message of disarray and unreadiness to enemies. Amid the burgeoning crisis in the Middle East, calls for him to abandon his stance have only grown louder in recent weeks, including a push this week led by Republicans Dan Sullivan, Joni Ernst, Lindsey Graham, Todd Young, and Mitt Romney. Tuberville, meanwhile, has shown no signs of backing off. In a remarkable scene on the Senate floor on Wednesday night, Republican senators went toe to toe with Tuberville and proposed individual votes on 61 officers, presented by name. Over the course of more than four hours, Tuberville denied each one. “Xi Jinping is loving this. So is [Vladimir] Putin,” Sullivan reportedly said during the standoff, a reference to the leaders of China and Russia, respectively. “How dumb can we be, man?”
“I’m trying to keep the White House from playing dictator along with the Pentagon,” Tuberville previously told Fox News Digital. “Abortion is the number one issue in our country in our lifetime when it comes to social issues, and the American people need to have a say so now.” Tuberville insists that Democrats need to introduce their own bill on the Pentagon policy and hold a vote, but Democrats say the ball is in the GOP’s court. “The onus is on Republican senators to prevail on Senator Tuberville and get him to back off his reckless pursuit,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
The daughter of an airman, Sweatt was eager to serve. But reflecting on her experience—which she said included harassment, assault, and discrimination—she isn’t sure if she would be so eager to serve today. “Women came into the service because we needed to fill a gap, and we filled those gaps very well and efficiently, and we earned our place…. It’s really sad because the United States military would not be as strong, as great as it is, as advanced as it is today had it not been for the women that flooded the ranks—and we’re constantly being shat upon and slapped in the face for it,” she told me. “It feels a lot like just being used.”
When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that all service members would have access to reproductive care. Under the policy, the Department of Defense does not fund abortion care; its facilities will only perform abortions in instances of rape or incest and if the mother’s life is at risk. Rather, the policy allows service members “the ability to request an administrative absence from their normal duty station to access non-covered reproductive health care without being charged leave.” Additionally, “travel and transportation allowances may be authorized for service members and dependents to travel to access non-covered reproductive health care.”
It is this policy that Tuberville takes issue with.
In the post-Roe landscape, accessing reproductive care has become a challenge to countless individuals who reside in states where conservative lawmakers have imposed abortion bans. In many cases, people who are pregnant must take time off work and travel extensive distances across state lines to find care. For military service members the challenges can be even steeper. With little say in where they are stationed, individuals seeking reproductive care can find themselves in states where it is limited at best, entirely unavailable at worst.
Courtesy of Carrie Frail.
Abigail Tracy
Source link
