A conservative military watchdog doesn't believe Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan successfully defended her anti-military bias during this week's confirmation testimony.

On Tuesday, Kagan attempted to assure senators that she has deep respect for the military and those who serve in it. She told the Senate Judiciary panel that reports detailing her antagonism with the military over its ban on homosexual military service had been exaggerated and claimed: "I said on many occasions that this was a great thing for our students to think about doing in their lives."

Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness (CMR), does not think the high court nominee succeeded in defending her anti-military record. "When she was dean of Harvard [Law School], there was a law called the Solomon Amendment fully in effect, saying that if any university accepts federal dollars, it must allow equal access to a campus for military recruiters," Donnelly explains...

Three months after abortion nearly derailed President Obama's health care bill, the hot-button issue is back before Congress with an amendment to the Senate's defense policy bill that would end the military's long-established ban on allowing abortions in its overseas hospitals.

The change was sponsored by Sen. Roland W. Burris, Illinois Democrat, and passed by the Senate Armed Services Committee in late May. It 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.

The amendment would overturn a policy put into place 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...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The nation's largest abortion business is applauding the vote last week in a Senate committee to 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.

Planned Parenthood has been working for years to force military bases hospitals to do abortions on female service members.

In the Senate Armed Services Committee, Burris won approval to attach an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to allow abortions on both domestic and overseas military bases...

President Obama is under fire for deciding to skip the annual Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.

Obama plans to be in Chicago on Memorial Day vacationing with family and spending casual time with friends, bowing out of the traditional visit to Arlington National Cemetery. Instead, the president will deliver a Memorial Day address at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Illinois, about 50 miles south of Chicago. Vice President Joe Biden and his wife will attend the service at Arlington in Obama's place.

Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson of Bond Action says citizens should be concerned...

The House of Representatives voted Thursday night to allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. armed forces.

The vote repeals a 17-year-old law called "don't ask, don't tell." The policy permitted gays and lesbians to serve in the military, so long as they did not declare their sexual orientation. In exchange, the military brass would not inquire service members about their sexual preference.

"This is devastating to the war fighters and the combat infantrymen," said Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill...

(CNSNews.com) – Fifty-nine (59) percent of Americans think military leaders, rather than Congress, should be making the decision about the military policy on homosexuality, according to a poll released Tuesday by the Family Research Center.

The Zogby International telephone survey, which was conducted May 17, asked 2,063 people: "As pertains to homosexuals openly serving in the military, do you believe this decision is best made by military leaders or Congress?"

Only 21 percent said Congress should make the decision -- and 18 percent answered neither or "not sure"...

WASHINGTON -- Congress is headed toward landmark votes on whether to allow gays to serve openly in the military.

The House of Representatives was expected to vote as early as Thursday on a proposal by Rep. Patrick Murphy, a Democrat who served in the Iraq war, that would repeal the 1993 law known as "don't ask, don't tell."

The legislation -- a compromise struck with the White House and agreed to by the Defense Department -- would give the military as much time as it wants before lifting the ban...

Conservative activists and retired military officers called on Democratic leaders to pull back from efforts to make it easier for gays to serve openly in the military, and a tepid response from some Democratic lawmakers cast doubt on its prospects for passage in a volatile midterm election year.

"Those that are pushing for this change are afraid that come November, they will no longer have the majority they need to push this through," said Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. "They're not looking at whether this is good for the military. This is a purely political decision."

Rep. Ike Skelton, Missouri Democrat, voiced support for the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and asked Congress to "avoid jumping the gun." The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said the Pentagon should be given until its Dec. 1 deadline to develop a plan to handle the law's possible repeal...

A conservative military watchdog says the supposed "compromise" worked out between President Obama and the Pentagon to repeal the law banning homosexuals serving in the military is nothing more than an attempt to pay back radical homosexual political supporters.

Associated Press reports that Defense Secretary Robert Gates is reluctantly supporting a White House-backed proposal in Congress that would immediately repeal the 1993 law that bans homosexuals from serving in the military.

Gates will back the measure because Congress has left it up to him when to implement the changes. The proposal was considered a compromise with some Democrats, who want an immediate repeal of the law...

In a breakthrough in the effort to overhaul the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, Congress is set to vote as early as this week on a proposal to repeal the rule barring gays from serving openly in the military.

The plan would have Congress vote on repeal long before the Pentagon completes its review of how to implement the policy -- something the White House said it hoped would happen first.

But the Obama administration nevertheless backed the plan, saying the proposed amendment would still allow the Department of Defense to finish its work before implementing any changes...