If you have ever engaged in sidewalk counseling, have a “Choose Life” license plate on your car, or have participated in any type of pro-life demonstration – congratulations, you are now a terrorist, in the minds of our current radicals in government.
A recent social media post revealed that an antiterrorism training course at U.S. Army Fort Liberty in North Carolina listed pro-life groups as actual terrorist organizations. The post includes a picture of a PowerPoint slide titled “Terrorist Groups” which included a bullet point list of examples – “anti-abortion” groups such as Operation Rescue and the National Right to Life, those who oppose the court decision in Roe v. Wade, anyone who participates in pro-life demonstrations, and individuals who have a pro-life license plate on their cars. The post claimed that this slide followed one on ISIS, an officially recognized terror group.
Outrage over the post was swift and caught the attention of several members of Congress, including Navy veteran Jim Banks (R-Indiana 3rd), who called for Fort Liberty to verify and explain the claim. In a statement, the Army base confirmed that the slides were in fact real but had “not been vetted by the appropriate approval authorities” and “will no longer be used.”
Fort Liberty’s short response left many unanswered questions though. How long have these slides been used before someone exposed them? How was it that they became part of such a briefing without being approved? And why does the Army have such a biased, anti-pro-life individual making crucial training decisions?
The American people, particularly the pro-life organizations smeared by this presentation, deserve answers to these questions and more. That’s why Sens. Ted Budd (R-North Carolina), Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), and Rep. Richard Hudson (R-North Carolina 9th) are leading a letter to Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth.
In the letter, the Congressmen rightfully point out that “the American public expects the Department of Defense and its personnel to defend the homeland from actual terrorists, not Americans who seek protections for children in the womb.” The job of the military is to protect all Americans, including the smallest and most vulnerable among us – not label those with differing ideological beliefs as a threat to the nation.
Meanwhile, there are very real terrorist threats to America. In 2023, the U.S. Border Patrol reported that they had encountered 172 people whose names appear on the terror watch list. That includes an Afghan associated with Hezbollah and an Uzbek associated with ISIS who had been freely living in the U.S. for two years. That number does not include the unknown number of terrorists who cross the border without being apprehended by authorities. In May, two Jordanians who were in the U.S. illegally attempted to breach Quantico Marine Corps Base.
Nearly half of all Americans identify as pro-life; lumping them in with Islamic jihadists severely hinders the Army from doing its job.
In addition to the above questions, the letter asks the Army to inform Congress on the current process used to review anti-terrorism training materials disseminated on Army bases, who exactly are the appropriate approval authorities, what action the Army is taking to investigate the distribution of these anti-pro-life materials, and what statutes or Army regulations were potentially violated. The letter also asks, “what action the Army is taking with regard to the offending employee.” At the very least, this employee should be removed from any decision-making role regarding personnel training.
Pro-life Americans are dedicated to saving the lives of unborn children and ministering to mothers who find themselves in difficult situations having to make difficult decisions. They advocate for a culture of life, for a society that values children and heathy families. And for that, some in the Department of Defense have labeled them as terrorists. Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC) commends the work of these Congressmen for holding the Army to account for this inexcusable training. The U.S. military can do its job only when it has the moral clarity to recognize America’s real enemies.