Ask any football coach if they’d rather call the play for fourth down and one, or fourth down and 30, and I’m guessing 100% of them would give you the same answer: “I’ll take option number one, please.”
A good coach knows that once you’ve ceded valuable ground to the opposition, it’s difficult to recover your position. Turns out, football and politics aren’t all that different.
A perfect Hail Mary pass was thrown on June 24, 2022, when Roe v. Wade was overturned against all odds. The players were ready in their assigned positions, and with one vote, the abortion debate was rightly returned to each state. It took 50 years, but in a rare conservative win, we gained back the yards our team lost in a game we should never have been playing.
But while the right was celebrating their long overdue victory, the left was picking teams and making plays for their next offensive attack.
That attack came this past February with the delivery of a short memo from Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. Because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, he announced, the military would now cover expenses associated with elective abortions not only for service members but for dependents of service members.
With the stroke of a pen, the Department of Defense (DoD) proclaimed they now had the power and authority to distribute taxpayer funds however they saw fit.
No seeking the approval of Congress to appropriate the funds.
No public debate with “We the People.”
No regard for the 1977 Hyde Amendment which prohibits the government from funding elective abortions.
Instead, with one trick play and zero regard for the rules of the game, the DoD circumvented the proper channels and declared the department a new lawmaking body of the United States.
And this is why Alabama’s U.S. Sen. “coach” Tommy Tuberville (R) had to call a timeout. The other team is cheating, and he refuses to pretend we don’t see it happening. Because even though the DoD isn’t paying for abortion procedures outright, anyone paying attention to the game knows this new “memo law” is clearly the government's attempt to subsidize elective abortions with public funds. Under the new rule, your taxpayer money will reimburse service members' abortions by covering vacation time, flights, lodging, and other incidental expenses associated with the procedure.
As an adoptive mom, I know the value of each life lost to abortion. As an American, I’m offended that this administration wants to force me to participate in ending even one life.
So, while Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and the rest of the Democrats have cleared the bench and are throwing an Iron Bowl-sized temper tantrum on the 50-yard line, coach Tuberville is standing calmly on his side, defending the play he warned Secretary Austin he would call. By blocking military promotions of generals and flag officers in the Senate, coach Tuberville is making sure the rules of the game are preserved for this play and future ones.
What’s funny is that most people, both inside the D.C. bubble and out, seem shocked by coach’s “Until Hell Freezes Over" resolve.
But I’m not.
Alabamians knew that when they voted the “Riverboat Gambler” into office, he would do whatever it took to win on fourth and long.
So, Sen. Tuberville, hold the line. It's the fourth quarter. The clock is ticking, and the other team has their hands on their knees.
But our win is in sight. And in the coming weeks when the pressure mounts to forfeit the game, just remember my favorite line from the Auburn University Fight Song – ironically, Secretary Austin should know it well – and make it your rally cry: “Ever to conquer, never to yield.”
Fight on, coach. We’re cheering for the win.
Allison Sinclair is a co-host of Alabama Unfiltered Radio. She lives in the Birmingham area with her husband and children.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819news.com.
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