Trump Reverses the Biden Pentagon’s Abortion Travel Reimbursement Policy

The Trump administration has reversed the policy implemented by the Biden administration that reimbursed service members and their authorized dependents in the Department of Defense for expenses incurred in traveling across state lines to get abortions. 

The new Trump policy, announced Wednesday, comes less than a week after Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee as defense secretary, was confirmed Jan. 24, and it’s just one of a flurry of moves made by President Donald Trump to deliver on his campaign promises. 

The reversal also comes after a long campaign to end the practice by Sen. Tommy Tuberville. The Alabama Republican had taken the issue to heart, writing in The Daily Signal, “Federal law permits the U.S. military to only provide abortions in very narrow circumstances: rape, incest, and threat to the life of the mother. Yet, the Biden administration has turned our Department of Defense into an abortion travel agency.”

A Rand survey estimated that as many as 4,100 active-duty servicewomen in the U.S. military seek abortions per year. 

Tuberville vowed to hold up Defense Department promotions, of both general and civilian officers, until the policy was revoked. He then engaged in a 11-month effort to put pressure on the Pentagon to reverse course.

The Alabama lawmaker’s campaign was backed by CatholicVote and 23 pro-life leaders, including Kevin Roberts, president of The Heritage Foundation; Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America; Dr. Ben Carson, former secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development; Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council; Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life Action; and Brent Bozell, founder and president of the Media Research Center.

The Defense Department under President Joe Biden ultimately refused to change course. Now that the federal government is under new management, change is happening at a breakneck pace.

On Wednesday, the deputy director of the Defense Travel Management Office issued a memorandum revoking the Biden policy and citing compliance with Trump’s executive order that enforced the Hyde Amendment. The purpose of the executive order was to prevent federal funding for elective abortions in keeping with the Hyde Amendment. 

The Hyde Amendment is a long-standing law, dating back to 1976, that prevents federal money, such Medicaid funding, from financing abortions. Biden signed an executive order while in office that appeared to contradict the law by directing the Department of Health and Human Services to consider covering expenses for pregnant women who travel to other states for abortions if their own state outlaws or restricts the procedure.

The then-president’s actions were a bit surprising, given the fact that he had been a longtime supporter of the Hyde Amendment while serving in the Senate and as vice president. Biden reversed course when his 2020 Democratic presidential primary opponents came out against the federal provision. 

In a statement to the press, Tuberville celebrated Trump’s policy reform.

“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,” he said. “I took a lot of heat when I stood alone for nearly a year in holding senior Pentagon promotions over this—but as of today, it was all worth it.”

Tuberville added, “The Biden administration treated taxpayers like their own personal piggy bank that they could use to bankroll their woke agenda. President Trump and Secretary Hegseth affirmed today what I’ve been fighting for since I got to Washington: Zero taxpayer dollars should go towards abortions.

“Under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth’s leadership, the Pentagon will once again be focused on lethality, not pushing a political agenda,” he said. “Thank God common sense has been restored to our military under President Trump’s leadership.”

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