Since May of 2022, John Francis Kirby, a retired rear admiral, has been serving as Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the Biden White House. One might think that this role — the spokesman for national security — wouldn’t include abortion activism. But this is the Biden White House, and so you’d be wrong.
During a press briefing, a journalist asked him a policy on why abortion was “critical to military readiness.” Kirby promptly got passionate. “I’m really glad you asked that question,” he replied. “No, I really am. One in five members of the U.S. military are women. Twenty percent. We’re an all-volunteer force. Nobody’s forcing you to go — you volunteer to go. I’m going to do this for a few years, or for my life — and it might cost me my life to do it.”
He continued: “When you sign up and you get that contract, you have every right to expect… the military to take care of you and to take care of your families.” He did not explain how killing a pre-born son or daughter in the womb constitutes taking care of families. “Our policies, whether they are diversity, inclusion, and equity, or transgender individuals who qualify physically and mentally to serve and do it with dignity.” At this point, Kirby began to thump the podium with his hand.
Kirby went on to call providing abortions to servicemembers — including paid leave and travel reimbursements for abortions — a “sacred obligation” of the military, and stated that in a recent conversation with female servicemembers and their spouses at the White House he was told that “abortion laws in this country that are now being passed are absolutely having an effect on their willingness to continue serving in uniform or to encourage their spouses to continue serving. So if you don’t think there’s going to be a retention and morale issue, think again.”
What happens, Kirby asked, if “you’re assigned to a state like Alabama, which has a pretty restrictive abortion law in place, and you’re concerned about your reproductive care? What do you do? Do you say no and get out? Well, some people may decide to do that. And what does that mean? That means we lose talent. Important talent.” He concluded with the fiery declaration: “Not to mention, it’s just the right darn thing to do!” Again, he’s referring here to funding feticide for female members of the military.
