John Kirby is wrong. Our military does NOT have a “sacred obligation” to pay for travel and three weeks leave time to get an abortion. Yet, that is what he claimed yesterday.
The Federalist transcribed his initial response.
When you sign up and make that contract, you have every right to expect that the organization, in this case, the military, is going to take care of you and your family and make sure you can serve with dignity and respect, no matter who you are or who you love or how you worship or don’t. And our policies, whether they are diversity, inclusion, and equity, whether they’re about transgender individuals who qualify, physically and mentally to serve, to be able to do it with dignity, or whether it is about female service members, 1 in 5, or female family members being able to count on the kinds of health care, reproductive care specifically, that they need to serve, that is a foundational sacred obligation of military leaders across the river.
This is all centering around Senator Tommy Tuberville’s hold on military promotions. Those won’t move forward until DOJ funding for abortion and transgender policies are yanked.
Policies that Sec Def Austin put into place earlier this year.
Soldier to @SecDef: “My mom died; I need to travel to her funeral.”@SecDef to soldier: “You’ll be charged for leave time and must pay your own travel.”
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) July 17, 2023
Soldier to @SecDef: “I want an abortion.”@SecDef to soldier: “Here’s three weeks of paid leave and I’ll pay your travel.” pic.twitter.com/LsKFN8SJjk
Senator Tom Cotton and others have verified that bereavement leave, while granted, is still paid for BY the soldier. Yet our military will pay for THREE weeks of abortion leave for the soldier and/or other family members???!! That’s a boatload of horseshit on multiple levels.
Yet, according to John Kirby and others, not allowing the military to pay for travel to get an abortion is having a detrimental impact on our military readiness.
Restrictive state polices around reproductive health care is having an “extremely significant impact” on the U.S. military’s recruiting and retention rate, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.
The Pentagon’s policy on abortion care for service members was in the spotlight last week as the House debated over several controversial measures to add to the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). On Friday, with the help of four Democrats, House Republicans successfully passed the NDAA, including an amendment that would undo the Department of Defense (DoD) policy to reimburse military members and their dependents for travel costs related to receiving an abortion outside of their assigned state.
The gaslighting and spin is unreal. What is impacting military readiness, retention, and recruitment are the progressive policies in place that provide for a kinder/gentler military. One that doesn’t allow for actionable consequences if a soldier steps out of line. A military that has lowered expectations to the point of trying to convince us that THIS is the type of soldier who will supposedly contribute to our military readiness.
https://twitter.com/DeptofDefense/status/1675474400517185538
No and hell no. Furthermore, this “sacred obligation” of paying for military travel for the soldier and/or family to get an abortion is a not-so-sneaky way to maneuver around the Hyde Amendment, which Joe Biden was in favor of least 50 times prior to his Presidency.
Again, Kirby claims this will have an impact upon someone’s willingness to serve.
Against that backdrop, Kirby said active duty personnel and spouses recently told him that abortion restrictions were having an impact on their willingness to serve.
‘So if you don’t think there’s going to be a retention and morale issue, think again because it’s already having that effect,’ he said.
Two things here.
ONE: If you are predicating your military service on whether or not you can get an abortion if you or your spouse ends up pregnant, you are NOT a good fit for service. Period.
TWO: Abortion, which kills a baby in the womb, is an ELECTIVE surgery. No one but yourselves should pay for the procedure and travel to kill that child. Not the DOD and for damned sure, not American taxpayers.
We are supposed to be sympathetic to soldiers, FEMALE soldiers, who find themselves pregnant. We are supposed to be totally fine with the military using our tax dollars to help them kill a child. Well, I’m not fine with this.
If a soldier is that irresponsible to end up pregnant because she and her spouse/partner can’t seem to figure out how to use birth control, then that soldier is not responsible enough to be battle ready no matter the MOS she has.
The ONLY “sacred obligation” our military has is to ensure ALL our soldiers are battle ready. Making exceptions for transgenders, and those who end up pregnant is detrimental to our military readiness.
Feature Photo Credit: Female Army Captain in barbed wire training December 2021 via U.S. Army Flickr, cropped and modified
GWB says: Once again, Nina, you’ve got the wrong angle on this.
It absolutely IS a “sacred obligation” to the Progressive religion. And that’s what this guy and all of our other “elites” are – Progressives. It’s not that there shouldn’t be religion, it’s WHICH religion will hold sway. And Progressives have worked very hard to capture all the institutions and a great chunk of the culture in order to ensure they win out. And, their morals are not yours (or mine).
You’re not wrong about the gaslighting and other malarkey. But, understand that their religion has a set of different standards (nihilism, hedonism, transhumanism) from ours.
Nina Bookout says: Good point. Their “sacred” is actually profane.
SFC D says: The military has no obligation, sacred or otherwise, to pay for any elective surgery, to pay travel expenses for any elective surgery, or to provide medical leave for any elective surgery. ANY elective surgery. Not just abortion. I’m sure the “women will die because of this policy” claim will be trotted out. That’s bullshit. The military will pay to terminate any pregnancy that jeopardizes the health of the mother, i.e. ectopic pregnancies. It’s not considered an elective abortion because it’s not a viable pregnancy. DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical professional. What I am is retired senior non-commissioned officer (Army) with more than a little experience with this. Your mileage may vary.
NTSOG says: “We are supposed to be sympathetic to soldiers, FEMALE soldiers, who find themselves pregnant.”
I have always found the phrase ‘find themselves pregnant’ to be very strange. It suggests to me a type of person living in a fantasy world where some kind of magic occurs over which the pregnant individual has no control. I suggest the military does not need such people as they are the sort of fools who will claim that they didn’t know a rifle was loaded – just as the pregnant individual apparently didn’t know her sex partner was also ‘loaded’.
Maureen says: Bingo. Women do not mysteriously discover that they are pregnant. It is basic sex ed, two people need to have unprotected sex.
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