A U.S. Army base in North Carolina previously held a training class in which pro-life organizations were described explicitly as “terrorist groups.”
The training class included a presentation that featured a slide listing the pro-life groups National Right to Life and Operation Rescue as terrorist organizations at Fort Liberty, formerly Fort Bragg, the Fort confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation. The Fort condemned the slides on Thursday and claimed that the deck was put together by a garrison employee who was not authorized to use them for the presentation.
“This is a national outrage. Instead of defending us from foreign terrorists, Joe Biden’s Pentagon is attacking pro-life Americans as a domestic terror threat,” Republican Indiana Rep. Jim Banks told the DCNF. “Even if this slide deck was unapproved, it still exposes the Biden Pentagon for creating a politicized environment where far-left wack jobs feel they can get away with teaching our troops that conservative Americans are their adversary and legitimate military targets. We are in dangerous territory.”
The slide in the presentation describes activities that pro-life and “anti-abortion” groups engage in to promote their message, including protesting, mass demonstrations, picketing and attempts at “counseling” outside crisis pregnancy centers. The slideshow was meant to “train soldiers manning access control points at Fort Liberty” as part of an “anti-terrorism” course.
“After conducting a commander’s inquiry, we determined that the slides presented on social media were not vetted by the appropriate approval authorities, and do not reflect the views of the XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Liberty, the U.S. Army or the Department of Defense (DOD),” the base told the DCNF. “These slides will no longer be used, and all future training products will be reviewed to ensure they align with the current DOD anti-terrorism guidance.”
Under the Biden administration’s leadership, the Pentagon and branches of the military have embraced several left-wing policies, including diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, the promotion of LBGTQ ideology and abortion rights. A current DOD policy announced by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in 2022 allows servicemembers to be recompensated for costs if they travel out of state for an abortion.
Former Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Gilbert Cisneros wrote in an article in January that Austin’s abortion travel policy was meant to circumvent a Supreme Court “error,” referring to the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
