Over 24,000 Petitioners Call for GOP Senators to Support Tuberville’s Ongoing Fight for Life

While addressing a fundraiser hosted by Microsoft chief technology officer Kevin Scott, President Joe Biden seized the opportunity in front of the crowd to criticize Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) for withholding 200 military promotions over the Pentagon’s new taxpayer-funded abortion policy. The president called the freshman senator’s efforts “bizarre,” adding, “I don’t remember it happening before, and I’ve been around.”

Tuberville tweeted a response to the president’s passive jab, saying, “What is actually bizarre is Joe Biden’s obsession with making taxpayers pay for abortion without Congress ever taking a vote. It’s bizarre and it’s wrong.”

The ongoing battle between Tuberville and the Biden administration has shown no signs of coming to a close anytime soon. The Alabama senator is the sole obstacle standing in the way of the administration issuing their preferred policy, but he refuses to back down due to what experts say are unlawful White House actions. Tuberville contends that not only is he fighting the DOD’s push to give military personnel paid time off and to cover travel expenses funded by taxpayer dollars when receiving an abortion, but he is fighting their overreach of power.

“If we continue to let them make up laws in their head and only from the White House and not go through Congress, we’re going to have a very, very tough time in this country,” he told Family Research Council President Tony Perkins on Tuesday’s episode of “Washington Watch.”

To this, Perkins noted that the recent tension between Tuberville and the Pentagon’s new policy is a two-fold issue: protecting the unborn and protecting the law. He also alluded to the fact that these “two very fundamental elements” are what “makes America different. We’re ruled by the law, and we protect the vulnerable.”

Although many pro-life Senate Republicans have verbally objected to the policy, Tuberville has taken action by putting a block hold on military promotions until the Biden Pentagon reverses the rule. To support his efforts, FRC Action launched a petition encouraging Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to “Support Senator Tuberville’s Pro-Life Stand.” On Thursday, the petition signatures — amounting to over 24,000 — were sent to McConnell’s office.

“Our military should not be in the abortion business,” the petition read. “The DOD’s attempt is not only unlawful, but it also politicizes the military, and undermines Congressional authority. The focus of our military needs to be on keeping our nation safe, not on furthering a left-wing pro-abortion agenda.”

While McConnell has prioritized pro-life policy in the past, “he does not condone the one-man stiff-arm of dozens of military promotions.”

According to Quena González, senior director of Government Affairs at FRC, “Not many people know how the Senate works, and those who do have grown accustomed to operating by unanimous consent, where a single senator rarely objects.” What Tuberville is doing, he pointed out, “is well in his jurisdiction. Ninety-nine other senators could have exercised the right to place a hold on promotions in order to highlight the administration’s unlawful targeting of the unborn, but Tuberville actually did.”

“The only two things that will convince Senator Tuberville to lift his hold are 1) if the White House was to reverse its policy to unlawfully fund abortions or 2) if Congress were to pass a law making the taxpayer funding of abortions in the military lawful,” González added.

As a result of Tuberville’s one-man effort, the Left has attempted to isolate him from his fellow pro-life Republicans. Therefore, FRC Action, “felt it was important to educate pro-life voters about why he took this action and to encourage them to support him.” By providing over 24,000 signatures, FRC Action hopes to encourage Republican senators to take a stand against the Biden administration’s unlawful actions and to protect the unborn.