Fox’s first appearance: Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticized President Biden over the abortion travel aid policy, which Secretary of State Lloyd Austin previously said was critical to military readiness. asked the Department of Defense.
Wicker suggested that recently emerged data raises questions. Biden administration’s Justification of policy. The Department of Defense said abortion travel policy is important to ensure military readiness.
Department of Defense releases data for military personnel on controversial abortion travel policy
In a letter sent Monday, the senators asked the Pentagon to provide evidence on how abortion travel allowances are needed to prepare the military in the wake of Roe v. Wade, as Austin had previously argued. I asked for
In a development Tuesday, the department announced new policy updates shortly after a request for comment from Fox News Digital and a day after Wicker’s letter prompted him to explain new data he obtained through another Senate committee. announced the numbers.
Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker (right) is demanding data from the Department of Defense, led by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (left), on the usage and cost of abortion travel policies. (Getty Images)
The travel allowance policy was used 12 times between June 2023 and December 2023, said Sabrina Singh, deputy spokeswoman for the Department of Defense. The allowance can be used for “non-covered” abortions, but is also allowed for other procedures and treatments. The cost to the Department of Defense was approximately $40,800, she said.
Although the Department provides approved benefits to assist with travel and transportation expenses, this does not mean that all military personnel traveling for abortions apply for or receive such benefits.
Wicker said in Monday’s letter that he received the data “indirectly through another Senate committee,” which revealed that the Army had “3 Records showed that 100 service members took advantage of this policy and claimed travel expenses totaling $2,097.
Republicans see embattled Menendez’s potential solo bid as chance to flip SenateT
Wicker’s office said the Army provided access and cost data for the 2023 abortion policy to a separate Senate committee. It was then transferred to Wicker.
“Yet, today’s news doesn’t change the fact: this administration has recklessly politicized the military with this farcical policy,” Wicker said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “The Department acknowledged today that people using this policy may not even be using it for abortions. The reality is that access to abortion does not threaten readiness.”
Wicker remembered Austin’s past claims The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Authority, which sent the abortion issue back to the states, “impacted the preparation, recruitment, and retention of the force and affected access to reproductive health care,” it said. .
Fundraising email weakens Biden’s impeachment prospects, says it’s aimed at “criminal introduction”
In the letter, Wicker said the department provided “incomplete, evasive, or outright non-responses” when asked for information to justify its abortion policy three times in 2023. It criticized the department and how its abortion policy affects military readiness.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images)
He noted that in response to the latest letter in December, the department focused on fertility services and avoided discussion of “the provision of non-covered abortion services that end the life of a fetus.”
Wicker also criticized the department’s refusal to provide information on insurance usage and amounts spent, urging people to look elsewhere for information. He argued that this response “contradicts Army data that clearly shows the number of service members who have used this insurance to claim travel expense reimbursement.”
Going, going, gone: Could the Republican slim House majority slip away by November?
Mr. Dobbs defeated Mr. Roe in June 2022. (Jose Luis Magana/AFP via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“This number is essential to best understand the actual readiness impact on the force,” he explained in Monday’s letter.
Wicker also asked the department to provide updated data on the use of the policy since implementation “in the same format provided by the Army.”
The senator also cited other occasions in which this data was not provided and called for the department to “immediately provide” this data.
