The Department of Defense ended a Biden-era policy that paid for women in the military to travel for abortions if they were in a state with pro-life laws in place.
The DOD rescinded the abortion travel policy on Wednesday, citing an executive order from President Donald Trump to make sure there was no taxpayer funding for abortion. The Biden policy paid for the travel, lodging, and food expenses of a woman seeking an abortion if she was stationed in a state banning abortion.
The DOD has not disclosed how frequently the policy was used, though it was in place for over two years and enacted shortly after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), who put a hold on military promotions en masse for nearly a year due to the policy, celebrated the news.
“For the past two years, I have been sounding the alarm about the Pentagon’s illegal and immoral practice of using taxpayer dollars to fund abortions,” he said. “I took a lot of heat when I stood alone for nearly a year in holding senior Pentagon promotions over this — but as of today, it was all worth it. The Biden administration treated taxpayers like their own personal Piggy bank that they could use to bankroll their woke agenda.”
“Under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth’s leadership, the Pentagon will once again be focused on lethality, not pushing a political agenda,” he added. “Thank God common sense has been restored to our military under President Trump’s leadership.”
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth thanked Tuberville on social media for his efforts to fight the policy.
Thank you for your leadership, Coach. https://t.co/hoEMpsVd0j
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) January 31, 2025
The decision was widely criticized by Democrats, including Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), who called the move from the Pentagon “abhorrent.”
“It runs contrary to a core goal of the Department of Defense — to ensure the health and well-being of all our service members so that our force remains ready at all times to protect Americans and keep this nation safe,” she said.
The announcement came after Trump signed an executive order last week mandating compliance with the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer dollars from going to abortion, saying that the Biden “administration disregarded this established, commonsense policy by embedding forced taxpayer funding of elective abortions in a wide variety of Federal programs.”
