WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) is continuing to stall military promotions in his stance against a policy supporting abortions for women in the military.

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade — putting abortion rights fate to be determined at the state level — the U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III issued a memo updating the DOD’s pregnancy policy to provide protections to pregnant service members.

The policy extends the time a service member must inform their commanders of a pregnancy to 20 weeks and allows up to 21 days paid leave to receive an abortion.

The policy also allows travel and transportation allowances to be covered for abortion-related services for service members and their dependents who are receiving care.

“These policies reinforce the Secretary of Defense’s commitment to taking care of our people, ensuring their health and well-being and ensuring the Force remains ready and resilient,” the Department of Defense stated in its Feb. 16 announcement. “The efforts taken by the Department today will not only ensure that service members and their families are afforded time and flexibility to make private health care decisions, but will also ensure service members are able to access non-covered reproductive health care regardless of where they are stationed.”

Tuberville has held up DOD general and flag officer nominations over the department’s new policy. He is pushing the DOD to abandon the new policy.

“We’re going to go from a couple dozen a year to probably 4,000 to 5,000 per year in the military,” Tuberville said on a May 16 podcast of Common Sense with Ben Carson. “I’ve been complaining about it because the Hyde Amendment says you cannot spend taxpayer money on abortion.”

Named after its original sponsor, Rep. Henry Hyde, in the late 1970s, the 2022 version of the Hyde Amendment prohibits the use of certain federal funds for health benefits covering abortion and for abortion services, with exceptions for pregnancies that result from rape or incest, or where a woman’s life would be in danger.

The amendment refers to services and programs that receive funding through the U.S Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and related agencies, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Tuberville, who represents a state where abortions are prohibited with limited exceptions, argues that the DOD is circumventing the role of Congress in its new policy.

Tuberville said the Senate — which the Democrats currently hold by two seats — can still go through with Pres. Joe Biden’s nominations, but his stall tactics require nominations to be voted on one at a time rather than the typical and more expedient practice of voting unanimously on nominations in bulk.

“I sent a letter to the Secretary of Defense Secretary [Lloyd] Austin and said, ‘Listen you weren’t elected to Congress so you don’t make laws, we do. Let us do the lawmaking,’” said Tuberville, a member of the Senate Armed Forces and the Veterans’ Affairs committees.

Approximately 160 active-duty military officials have been nominated to key command positions, and Austin said leaving them unfilled could put the country’s national security at risk.

In a May 5 letter to Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren, chair of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, Austin said 64 of those positions are due to rotate in less than four months and include chief of staff of the Army, chief of Naval Operations, commandant and assistant commandant of the Marine Corps.

“The United States military relies on the deep experience and strategic expertise of our military leaders,” Austin said. “The longer this hold persists, the greater the risk the U.S. military runs in every theater, domain and every service.”

”The Department urges the Senate to resolve the current situation as swiftly as possible to limit these serious consequences,” Austin said. “Never before has one senator prevented the (DOD) from managing its officer corps in this manner, and letting this hold continue would set a perilous precedent for our military our security and our country.”