Veterans Get Outside Day

Floor Speech

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Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. President, I rise today to support my friend, my colleague Senator Tommy Tuberville as he continues to do the right thing, to do justice, as he continues this fight against the radical pro-abortion policies put in place by the Defense Department earlier this year.

And I remind everybody that this is a fight the Department of Defense picked. We didn't pick this fight. They picked this fight. They are the ones who decided to change their policies to break the law.

This February 16 policy provides military personnel 3 weeks of paid leave and uses taxpayer dollars for travel expenses incurred while seeking an abortion--a clear violation of the Hyde amendment.

The policy is illegal. It violates Federal law, prohibiting funds to the DOD from being used to perform abortions except where the life of the mother is endangered, rape, or incest.

This policy takes the number of the Department of Defense abortions from less than 20 per year to an estimated 4,500 abortions.

The policy also describes abortion as reproductive healthcare. And I think that is the true issue here. You know, as an obstetrician, I am often asked two questions: When does life begin? What was the favorite part of a pregnancy for me?

I want to talk about the pregnancy for a second. I took care of hundreds, maybe thousands, of infertile couples, and, certainly, that first time when they had a pregnancy test that was positive was a great moment for me to share with them.

Four weeks after conception, we can see a baby's heartbeat on the ultrasound. That is another spectacular moment, for every couple to see that little baby's heartbeat at 4 weeks after conception.

At 12 weeks, we could hear the baby's heartbeat on a doppler. And it was one of the favorite moments for that mom and dad to hear that baby's heartbeat, as well, especially those women who had recurrent miscarriages, those who had lost life early repeatedly and, through miracles and medicines, they were able to conceive and carry that pregnancy. They get through the first trimester. They hear their baby's heartbeat. They know they are pretty much out of the woods.

One of my favorite visits came at about 15 to 16 weeks after conception. And the mom would come into my office, and I would ask her: How are you feeling?

And the nausea and vomiting are now over with, and I would ask her: Are you feeling the baby move yet?

And her eyes would light up. And she would say: Yes, Doctor. I can feel the baby move now. Isn't that incredible?

So I always loved that.

And maybe the next visit--maybe, you know, at 18, 20 weeks along-- they would come into the room, and I would examine the mom and put my hands on her abdomen. I could feel the baby's head and the baby's buttocks and maybe the limbs. And I would see the baby kind of start to move as I would kind of push on one spot. And maybe there was a little brother or sister in the room as well. And I would listen to the heartbeat. And almost every time that brother or sister would screech out: Mommy, is that my baby brother or sister?

This is at 18 weeks.

And, then, what was miraculous of all of this is that little baby, that fetus--the baby inside of the mom, the unborn baby--you could hear the heartbeat increase. You could hear it increase in intensity and the rate, recognizing this baby brother or sister's voice.

The rest of the pregnancy, you know, maybe there was another 6 or 8 visits, and they were all fun, and they were all special.

I delivered a baby almost every day of my life for 25 years, and every labor was different. It was touchy; it was hard; it was easy--all those things. We had prolapsed cords, placentas separate, women with blood pressure problems seizing. I was blessed. I never lost a mom-- never lost a mom. God blessed us and gave me the skill to get them through that.

Some labors were short, and some were long. Some lasted 30 minutes, and some lasted 2 days. Sometimes they would push for 2 minutes, and sometimes a woman would push for 3 hours. But my favorite moment of every pregnancy was delivering the baby and rubbing it down, and I would be checking its pulse and its heart rate and see if it was breathing and making sure it was dry and quietly praying to myself for this newborn baby until I heard it start crying.

The favorite moment was giving that newborn baby to that mom and just watching her and observe her and just being able to watch that total nonjudgmental love of a mom for a newborn baby.

I take it backward from there and talk about when life begins. There are those people in this Congress that, even after a baby would survive abortion, they think that baby should not be treated and cared for. Certainly, I believe life certainly begins when the baby survives an abortion, and it is past the point of viability. We should do everything we can to help that baby out.

You know, you go backward. Viability is probably 20, 21 weeks--21 weeks probably today. Does life begin at 21 weeks? If that baby was born outside the womb, would it survive? At 21 weeks, it has a chance. I think most of us certainly agree life begins then. What about 18 weeks when that baby recognizes its brother's or sister's voice or at 16 weeks when mom can feel the baby move or at 12 weeks when we can hear the heartbeat or 6 weeks when we can see the heartbeat? Well, after years of study and doing this, I just--my heart tells me life begins at conception, and no one has been able to prove me wrong. I think we have to assume life begins at conception.

That is why it is so struggling for me to hear people calling abortionists reproductive healthcare. Reproductive healthcare, to me, means helping patients who can't conceive, helping moms to have a healthy pregnancy, getting them--taking folic acid a year before they are trying to conceive, making sure they are doing everything they can to prevent spina bifida or encephalic babies, getting their sugars under control--all those things. That is what reproductive healthcare means to me, not taking the life of a baby.

Labeling abortion as ``healthcare'' is a tactic that is used to avert the radical abortion agenda. This irresponsible and unethical scheme politicizes our doctors' offices and, in almost all cases, does not improve women's health.

I am sorely disappointed in the military that I once served in, that my dad served, my uncle served, my great uncles, my mom's dad, my mom's uncle who died in World War II, my son who is now serving. I am disappointed in the military. It turned its attention and resources to terminating life.

I want to remind the Department of Defense they exist to protect the citizens of this great Nation, not to push a radical abortion agenda; that they took an oath to the Constitution to defend this country. Why are they picking this fight to end the lives of unborn babies? It is morally wrong; it is illegal; and the Pentagon needs to be held accountable.

The Biden administration has created the most politicalized Pentagon in history, destroying their own morality, destroying recruiting, destroying the readiness of our military. Unelected bureaucrats cannot ignore Congress and change the law with a memo. This policy is outside the Department of Defense's mission to uphold and fight for life, not destroy it.

I am honored to stand up here and support my colleague Senator Tuberville to fight back against this outrageous abortion policy, both in the name of protecting life and ensuring that our military uses resources to protect our homeland and our interests abroad. The policy is wrong. The DOD's policy is wrong, and until the military gets back to providing for our common defense and out of the business of providing abortions, I am proud to stand with Senator Tuberville.

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