Wicker Celebrates Sanctity of Life Month

Every January, Americans around the nation celebrate Sanctity of Life month, and thousands of students, churches, and families join in the March for Life. The annual events reaffirm the principle that God has endowed every human with the right to life. That belief is integral to our nation's founding documents, and I believe the government has a responsibility to help protect life at all stages.

Protecting the Unborn

In this Congress, I am again sponsoring the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. This legislation would make permanent the Hyde Amendment protections, which prohibit the use of federal funds to pay for abortions or health coverage that includes abortion. That bill, along with other pro-life initiatives, earned my congressional action an A+ from the Susan B. Anthony group, which advocates for the right to life.

Today, much of my pro-life legislating comes from an unexpected place: my role as the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The committee is responsible for planning and funding America's security capabilities. Part of that work involves handling numerous military personnel issues affecting the 1.3 million active-duty service members and their families.

During the Biden administration, the Pentagon failed to protect life. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in 2022, President Biden's Secretary of Defense claimed the "readiness of the force" would be weakened as some states enacted protections for the unborn. Officials contrived a plan to reimburse service members for travel costs incurred on the way to an abortion procedure-effectively using taxpayer funds to subsidize abortion. Republicans have since reversed that misguided and harmful policy.

Supporting Infants and Mothers

The pro-life movement begins with life in the womb, but it goes further. We must also work to support newborns and their caretakers. In Mississippi, we are combating a tragically high infant mortality rate. I applaud the medical providers and elected officials who are working to keep infants and mothers healthy, and I have worked to support their efforts.

Last year, I secured funds to create the Center for Optimizing Maternal Outcomes. This organization will be run by the University of Mississippi Medical Center and the Mississippi Public Health Institute. It will work with community members directly and will collect aggregate data on maternal health and infant morbidity. This data will help us understand in detail the challenge we face so we can begin reversing course on this heartbreaking trend.

Promoting Adoption

The pro-life movement also esteems adoptive families. This month, I reintroduced a bill, the Voluntary Limited Accreditation for Adoption Services Act, which would make it easier for small adoption agencies to help connect children to a loving home.

Many families struggle to navigate the complicated adoption process, even with the help of experts at adoption agencies. Some of these organizations are full-service. They have the staffing to carry parents through each step of an adoption. Other agencies handle a few specific components of that process. Despite their differences, both types of organizations must acquire the same expensive operating license. I believe it is unnecessary to require these smaller, often local, agencies to be certified in services they do not perform. It can burden these organizations, distracting from the vital work they do for families and children.

The Voluntary Limited Accreditation for Adoption Services Act would create a new, more limited standard for smaller adoption agencies. The last thing we want to do is put a local adoption provider out of business by burdening them with standards they do not need to meet. Instead, we should eliminate the red tape that holds them back from serving more families and children.