Senate Democrats are angling to end the military's decades-old ban on allowing abortions in overseas military hospitals, thus thrusting the culture wars back onto the front burner after months of being drowned out by the nation's economic woes.

Sen. Roland W. Burris, Illinois Democrat, ushered the proposal through the Senate Armed Services Committee in May, tacking it onto the Defense Authorization Act, which the Senate is slated to consider Tuesday.

Mr. Burris' plan would require women to pay for abortions upfront and without government funds, but would allow doctors at military hospitals to perform the procedures if those conditions are met. It would overturn a policy established by congressional Republicans in the mid-1990s that restricted abortions at military hospitals only to cases of rape, incest or when the woman's life is in danger...

A Mississippi senator says he will fight against the efforts of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Democrats to break a GOP filibuster of the Defense Authorization Act because it contains an amendment designed to repeal the 1993 law that bans homosexuals from serving in the military.

Reid has scheduled a vote next week on the Senate version of the bill, which contains language to repeal the law known as Section 654, Title 10 that says homosexuality incompatible with military service, but has often been confused with Bill Clinton's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, opposes changing the law...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Members of the U.S. Senate will vote next week on whether to stop a filibuster against that bill containing a provision allowing abortions at taxpayer-funded American military bases. Republicans, perhaps joined by a Democrat or two, are filibustering the bill funding the Defense Department.

They are doing so for a number of political reasons -- including the fact that the bill contains an amendment allowing abortions at all worldwide U.S. military base hospitals.

The amendment, sponsored by pro-abortion Sen. Rolland Burris of Illinois, would have the military break with current longstanding policy disallowing abortions...

The military will not reinstate any gay service members discharged under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy despite a judge's ruling last week that the policy is unconstitutional, the Pentagon said Monday.

Though the ruling gave a boost to gay rights activists trying to overturn the policy via Congress and the courts, a Pentagon spokeswoman said the decision has no bearing on military policy.

"This ruling has no impact on the current law. The current law is still in effect," spokeswoman Cynthia Smith told FoxNews.com...

LOS ANGELES - A federal judge said she will issue an order to halt the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, after she declared the ban on openly homosexual service members unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips ruled Thursday that the prohibition on openly homosexual military service members was unconstitutional because it violates the First and Fifth Amendment rights of homosexual men and women. The policy, she said, doesn't help military readiness and instead has a "direct and deleterious effect" on the armed services by hurting recruitment efforts during wartime and requiring the discharge of service members who have critical skills and training...

A group opposed to ending the ban on openly gay troops in the military has released a national survey that challenges earlier independent polls asserting that a wide percentage of Americans favor repealing the ban.

The Military Culture Coalition hopes the survey by a Republican pollster will help persuade moderate to conservative Democrats to oppose President Obama's campaign promise to lift the ban as final votes in Congress loom.

The question is, is the poll too late? The House as well as the Senate Armed Services Committee have passed repeal legislation. That leaves the full Senate vote, a House-Senate conference bill, and then Mr. Obama's signature to end the 1993 law that states that open homosexuality is a threat to combat readiness...

A coalition of conservative activists who support the ban on homosexuals serving in the military has released the findings on a new poll of likely voters who prefer retention over repeal of that 1993 law.

In pushing their agenda, radical homosexual activists and other supporters of allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the military have cited public opinion polls, claiming that 75 percent of Americans support the effort to repeal the law that states homosexuals are not eligible to serve in the military -- a statute that has often been confused with Bill Clinton's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

But now, the Military Culture Coalition has released the findings of the survey it commissioned last month of 1,000 likely voters, which show little support for the current movement to repeal the law...

(CNSNews.com) – A nationwide survey of 1,000 likely voters found that 59 percent of Democrats think that members of Congress should consider the opinions of homosexual advocacy groups over the opinions of top military commanders when considering a repeal of the law prohibiting homosexuality in the military.

The survey also showed that half of Democrats support penalizing soldiers opposed to homosexuality, including those who oppose it for religious reasons.

“Americans understand that the current push for sexual minorities in the military is motivated by politics, not principle,” Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, said in a statement about the poll results on Tuesday...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- More than 200 physicians who have served U.S. soldiers have signed a letter to members of the Senate protesting a Senate bill amendment that would turn U.S. military base hospitals into abortion centers.

The amendment, sponsored by pro-abortion Sen. Rolland Burris of Illinois, would have the military break with current longstanding policy disallowing abortions.

The 16,000-member Christian Medical Association organized the letter and today sent it to the senators urging them to vote no on the National Defense Authorization Act unless the Burris amendment is removed. The group and the doctors are supporting an amendment on the Senate floor to remove the Burris language...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Planned Parenthood used Independence Day as an occasion to press its agenda for the military: abortions at taxpayer-funded military base hospitals. In an action alert the abortion giant sent its members Planned Parenthood belittled the July 4th traditions to say they're not as important as abortions.

"This 4th of July, among the outdoor cookouts and fireworks displays, countless politicians and members of Congress will give speeches to honor the women and men serving in our nation's military. But speeches are one thing, and action is another," Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards wrote.

Richards complained that, "Right now, women serving abroad in the U.S.