Anti-abortion conservative condemns Tommy Tuberville as 'morally wrong' for holding up military promotions

A long list of Democrats have forcefully condemned Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) for holding up over 270 military nominations or promotions, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois). Herself a U.S. Army veteran, Duckworth has little patience with Republicans who claim that Republicans are more patriotic and pro-military than Democrats; she lost both of her legs and partial use of her right arm during the Iraq War.

Tuberville, a member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee, has been holding up the nominations or promotions to express his opposition to the Biden Administration's policy of reimbursing women for travel expenses incurred while seeking an abortion. In contrast to all the criticism he has been getting from Democrats, the Alabama Republican has been getting a pass from many Republicans — as he is an ally of former President Donald Trump and the Religious Right.

But in a Washington Post column published on July 19, conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt calls Tuberville out and emphasizes that one can be anti-abortion without hurting the military.

READ MORE: Abortion, the military and white nationalism have put Tommy Tuberville in the hot seat

"Uncertainty is just paralysis, and paralysis in the military can be deadly," Hewitt warns. "On every level, this action by the Alabama senator is morally and strategically wrong — the sort of self-inflicted scar that invites a future Republican primary challenge, or maybe a faceoff against a retired military hero on the Democratic side."

Hewitt is hardly the Washington Post's only conservative columnist. But unlike Post columnists Max Boot, Jennifer Rubin, Kathleen Parker and Henry Olsen, Hewitt isn't a Never Trumper. In contrast to all the scathing anti-Trump commentary that has come from Boot and Rubin, Hewitt has often defended Trump.

But in his July 19 column, the radio host/Post columnist doesn't give Tuberville a pass simply because he is a Trump ally.

"If Tuberville thinks that he's bolstering support with the Republican base by claiming he's just acting on his pro-life convictions, he's mistaken," Hewitt writes. "I have been vocally pro-life much longer than Tuberville has been a politician, but always through the means designed to actually advance the agenda of saving unborn children. It is inexcusable to use a pro-life stance to upend the lives of countless Americans who volunteered to protect their fellow citizens."

READ MORE: GOP's Tommy Tuberville refuses to answer questions about his defense of white nationalists

Read Hugh Hewitt's full Washington Post opinion column at this link (subscription required).