Sam Brownback: “Thank you. Your amendment does not have conscience clause protection. That is already part of the base if you are a…”

“Thank you. Your amendment does not have conscience clause protection. That is already part of the base if you are a military physician, to be able to provide that. I want to hone in on what the amendment is about. It is about opening up DOD medical facilities, domestically and internationally--the Senator argues there won't be that much demand domestically, but it opens it up both ways to provide abortion on demand in the United States to U.S. military personnel and their dependents. So you are talking about a broad array of taxpayer-funded facilities you are opening up to provide abortions in Kentucky, Washington, Kansas, or wherever. I want to agree with the Senator from Washington that we are talking about the use of the facilities here--taxpayer-funded facilities--that provide abortions and not necessarily the doctor. The doctor may be recruited from outside and paid for privately, but you are using taxpayer-funded facilities to provide abortions. So you can see a situation in this country where you would have a military facility in Kentucky or in the State of Washington being protested by people who are pro-life because their taxpayer-funded facility is being used to provide abortions on demand--not just for the life of the mother, rape, and incest. Again, I recognize the strong support Senator Murray puts forward for the rights of women, and I applaud that.…”