DADT/Abortion Scuttle Defense Bill

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DADT/Abortion Scuttle Defense Bill

Special Report - December 13, 2010
Homosexual activists and their allies in Congress have pledged to continue their efforts to repeal the military’s 17 year-old “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy, despite their failure in the U.S. Senate last week to garner enough votes necessary to move forward on the measure that was attached to a military spending bill. Proponents of the controversial measure, which was attached to S.3454-“National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2011,” needed 60 votes to invoke cloture and avoid a Republican filibuster of the bill, but they were only able to get 57 votes (the vote was 57 to 40, with three senators not voting). North Carolina Senator Richard Burr voted “No,” while Senator Kay Hagan voted “Yes.” Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), who was the only Republican to vote “Yes,” on the motion, has pledged to join Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) in introducing a stand-alone bill to repeal DADT this week, which they hope Congress will consider before it adjourns for Christmas. In a joint statement on December 10, several pro-homosexual organizations pushing for the repeal of DADT, including the Human Rights Campaign and the Log Cabin Republicans, said: “Despite the unfortunate result of the Senate's cloture vote on the defense authorization bill, there are other viable legislative options to repeal ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell’ before Congress adjourns, and a solid 60-vote Senate majority still in favor of repeal… we are confident repeal can still happen this year.”

In a victory for the pro-life movement, S. 3454 also contained another controversial amendment that failed to advance as a result of the Senate vote. Known as the Burris amendment, the measure would have repealed a federal ban that has prohibited abortions at 400 taxpayer-funded military hospitals since 1996. “We applaud the outstanding leaders in the Senate who led the fight to win today’s key vote rejecting taxpayer-funded abortion in the military,” said Dr. Charmaine Yoest, CEO and president of Americans United for Life, in a statement. “They stood on principle and scored again a major victory for our service members and their families.” Dr, Yoest added, “The momentum is on the side of Life. We stopped taxpayer-funded abortion on military bases for the second time this year against overwhelming odds in the Senate. Situations such as these where every vote counts underscores why we must remain steadfast in our fight.” As we previously reported, a cloture vote on the military spending bill also failed in September.

Related resources:
Pentagon Report Misses Mark - December 1, 2010
Link to Pentagon DADT Report Web page - November 30, 2010
U.S. Supreme Court Denies Stay - November 16, 2010
Court Stays DADT Injunction - November 4, 2010
Homosexuals In Military Decision Stayed - October 21, 2010
Social Issues Stop Defense Spending Bill - September 23, 2010
Court Refuses "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Case - June 8, 2009
Don't Ask, Don't Tell - Interview - July 24, 2010 Download (mp3) — (wma)