Democrats in the Senate Armed Services Committee, yesterday, voted to add a provision to the 2013 defense authorization bill, that forces taxpayers to fund abortions at U.S. military base hospitals.

Current law in effect since 1996 prohibits the performance of abortion by Department of Defense medical personnel or at DOD medical facilities. A separate provision prohibits the use of DOD funds for abortion except to save the life of the mother.

The issue of abortions done at military base medical centers has been around for two decades. When ex-President Clinton allowed abortions in military facilities from 1993 to 1996, all military physicians (as well as many nurses and supporting personnel) refused to perform or assist in elective abortions. In response, the Clinton administration attempted to hire civilians to do abortions...

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...