Congresswoman’s Amendment Bars Pentagon Funding of Abortion

A Republican congresswoman from Texas succeeded in amending the annual National Defense Authorization Act to prevent the Pentagon from subsidizing abortions with taxpayer dollars.

Rep. Beth Van Duyne’s amendment to the $883.7 billion fiscal 2025 NDAA would block President Joe Biden’s Defense Department from using federal funds to reimburse abortion-related expenses.

The amendment passed the House of Representatives on June 13 on a 214-to-207 vote. Two Republicans voted against the pro-life amendment (Reps. John Duarte of California and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania) and one Democrat voted in favor of it (Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas). The overall bill passed the House on June 14, also on a largely party-line 217-199 vote, with six Democrats voting in favor and three Republicans opposing it, The Hill reported.

Van Duyne told The Daily Signal her amendment would roll back Biden’s illegal Department of Defense abortion travel reimbursement policy issued in a memo on Oct. 20, 2022, which she said was “in clear violation of historic, bipartisan norms and current law.”

Listen to “The Daily Signal Podcast” interview with Van Duyne here: