CV NEWS FEED // The Archbishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services on Jan. 31 celebrated President Donald Trump’s executive order prohibiting taxpayer-funded abortion travel for service members, and called for abortion to be prohibited in Veterans’ Affairs hospitals as well.
“The very good news that President Trump has signed an executive order to return to enforcement of the Hyde Amendment in the military is welcomed by all who strive to protect unborn children,” Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio said in the statement. “I have long been concerned about the use of tax-payers’ contributions to finance the taking of innocent life and also the violation of conscience for senior officers who were required to approve such funding.”
In March 2024, Archbishop Broglio spoke out when the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) implemented a policy allowing for its medical centers to commit abortion up to nine months for military members, spouses, and their dependents.
“The notion that killing an unborn child can somehow be considered ‘medical or surgical care’ certainly violates the dignity of the human person and suggests that some lives are more important than others,” Archbishop Broglio stated at the time. “I deplore this decision that once more removes the right to life for the defenseless and inflicts untold physical and psychological trauma on mothers.”
In his Jan. 31 statement, Archbishop Broglio reiterated opposition to allowing VA hospitals to commit abortions by expressing hope that its authorization “will also be cancelled soon.” Concluding, he expressed gratitude for Trump’s order to once again enforce the Hyde Amendment.
Trump’s White House fact sheet on Trump’s related executive orders describes public support of ending taxpayer-funded abortion as “overwhelmingly popular,” and notes that the Hyde Amendment is a “longstanding commonsense policy” that President Joe Biden violated through his Executive Orders (EO) 14076 and 14079.
On Jan. 24 Trump signed an executive order rescinding 14076, which politicized the enforcement of the controversial Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, and 14079, which recategorized abortion as “healthcare” to use taxpayer dollars for elective abortions, according to the White House. Biden’s EO 14076 also “imposed a whole-of-government effort to promote and fund abortion,” according to the White House.
In compliance with Trump’s Jan. 24 executive order, the Pentagon last week revoked the policy allowing for taxpayer-funded abortion expenses reimbursement for military personnel. The policy had also allowed for military members who traveled for abortion to have paid leave.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alamaba, a member of the Senate Services Committee on Armed Services, celebrated the Pentagon’s rescinding of the policy. For 11 months starting in March 2023, Tuberville had used his position on the Committee to protest the violation of the Hyde Amendment by imposing a freeze on senior military promotions.
“For the past two years, I have been sounding the alarm about the Pentagon’s illegal and immoral practice of using taxpayer dollars to fund abortions,” Tuberville said Jan. 31. Even though he was heavily criticized for his protest, he said, “it was all worth it.”