Letter to the Editor: Re: Thoughts

The U.S. military’s promotion policy is being held up by one Senator, not because of his disagreement on promotion, but because of abortion. There are bases in many world locations where abortions are banned. The policy is that if there is a rape or a woman’s life is in danger, the military will transfer the person to a base in a location where it is legal. The Senator wants to make it totally illegal for this policy to be followed anywhere on the planet, so he is impeding promotions that affect the security of our nation. What think you of that? Please understand that I have a personal belief on abortion, but I don’t think any law should be predicated on my personal belief. However, I do think that this Senator’s personal belief system on one issue is interfering with an issue critical to our nation’s security at a time when Russia and China are pushing the planet’s buttons.

Bob Bush

Yuba City

Editor’s note: The military promotion issue brought up in this letter concerns Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a Republican from Alabama. Tuberville has held up 160 senior Pentagon nominations because of Defense Department policies that allow service members to request administrative absence for “non-covered reproductive health services,” which includes elective abortions and IVF, for themselves or to accompany their partners. NBC News reported that “the Defense Department says the policy does not fund abortions but instead gives service members and their dependents the ability to get reproductive procedures that may no longer be available as states roll back abortion protections after the Supreme Court repealed Roe v. Wade last year.” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke of the damage these delays were causing, saying, “It’s a powerful effect and will impact on our readiness,” noting situations in Russia, China, Iran in particular.