SBA Pro-Life America often puts itself at the forefront of the fight against Democrats’ abortion extremism, but when it comes to Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s fight against the Pentagon’s plans for taxpayer-funded abortion, the group is uncharacteristically quiet. Now that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has threatened to bring a resolution that would let the Senate process military promotions en bloc, Tuberville needs the support of pro-life groups more than ever.
“Patience is wearing thin with Senator Tuberville on both sides of the aisle,” Schumer said in floor remarks on Wednesday. “What happened with the Marine Commandant just showed many people how dangerous what Tuberville is doing is. And so I will call for a resolution on the floor to allow us to vote on all these people at once. And I’m very hopeful and optimistic about it.”
In a statement to The Federalist, SBA’s VP of Communications E.V. Osment was quick to condemn the Biden administration for “illegally injected abortion into our military against the will of the American people” and reaffirm that Schumer has the power to bypass Tuberville’s hold.
SBA, however, wouldn’t tell The Federalist if it plans to score the Schumer-led vote. Nor did the pro-life group explain why it hasn’t consistently backed Tuberville’s pro-life stand.
When Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced in February that the taxpayer-funded Pentagon would grant up to three weeks of paid time off and travel for U.S. military members and their family members to obtain abortions, Tuberville placed a hold on the Senate confirmation of all civilian and general flag officer nominees.
He forced the Biden administration and its Democrat allies in Congress to choose between abandoning their radical abortion agenda or handing individual congressional approval to Austin’s subordinates.
Since Tuberville began slow-walking military promotions, he sustained multiple attacks from Democrats, corporate media, former intel officials, high-ranking military members, and even Senate GOP leadership for impairing “military readiness,” a claim that lacks evidence and is overshadowed by the fact that the Senate Armed Services Committee can vote on each nomination individually.
Despite SBA’s favorable ranking of Tuberville and his pro-life track record, their support for him and his fight against the Pentagon is strictly limited.
In May, SBA featured a video of the Alabama Policy Institute’s Stephanie Smith thanking Tuberville for “standing up for the people of Alabama and for those of us who don’t want our tax dollars going toward abortions.”
Four months later, SBA posted a clip of former Vice President Mike Pence declaring Tuberville’s hold “is right and the Pentagon is wrong.”
It wasn’t until Sept. 21 that SBA explicitly expressed support for Tuberville’s stalling.
“Sen. Tuberville is a heroic example of how pro-life MoC should stand for the protection of unborn children and their mothers and the rule of law,” SBA President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement. “We are proud to stand with him as he works with his colleagues to rein in Biden’s extremism and save innocent lives.”
SBA’s delayed response to Tuberville’s months-long fight strongly contrasts how the pro-life group has closely allied itself with several of the Senate Republicans who have criticized their colleague in recent months.
When Sen. Lindsey Graham proposed a national 15-week abortion ban bill, SBA was extremely supportive; the group quickly published a press release praising the Republican for attempting to bring the U.S. up to speed with Europe.
Graham recently accused Tuberville of “doing great damage to our military” with his abortion protest.
