U.S. military disavows presentation that described National Right to Life as ‘terrorist group’ 

CNA Staff, Jul 12, 2024 / 12:55 pm (CNA).

A U.S. military base has disavowed a presentation in which the major pro-life group National Right to Life was implied to be a “terrorist” organization. 

A photo circulating on social media this week purported to show a PowerPoint slide as part of a presentation delivered at Fort Liberty in North Carolina. Fort Liberty, formally known as Fort Bragg, is one of the largest military installations in the world with over 50,000 military personnel.

The slide purported to list “terrorist groups”; among the listed organizations was National Right to Life (NRLC), a nearly 60-year-old anti-abortion group that helped launch the modern U.S. pro-life movement.

The presentation drew sharp criticism for its equation of a major pro-life group with “terrorism.” 

In a statement Thursday, NRLC President Carol Tobias described the slide as “deeply offensive to pro-life Americans across the nation.”

“In our over 50-year history, National Right to Life has always, consistently, and unequivocally, condemned violence against anyone,” Tobias said. 

In a Facebook post on Thursday afternoon, Fort Liberty said it had “[come] to our attention that an anti-terrorism slide was posted on social media.”

“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,” the post said. 

“The slides were developed by a local garrison employee to train soldiers manning access control points at Fort Liberty,” the statement continued.

“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.”

The presentation also drew criticism from Congress, where Indiana Rep. Jim Banks told media that the slide was “a national outrage.”

“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,” Banks said. “We are in dangerous territory.”

The military under the Biden administration has over the course of several years moved to liberalize abortion regulations in the U.S. Armed Forces. 

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in March said it was making permanent a policy to provide abortions in certain circumstances to service members even in states where abortion is illegal. 

In 2022, meanwhile, the Department of Defense moved to create an allowance to pay for service members to travel to obtain abortions. 

The department said at the time that the effects of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade earlier in the year were “[interfering] with our ability to recruit, retain, and maintain the readiness of a highly qualified force.”