Chaplains commend Trump administration for decision to repeal controversial, expensive policy

CHAPLAIN ALLIANCE FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY July 26, 2017 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact CHAPLAIN ENDORSERS at info@chaplainalliance.org or call (571) 293-2427

Chaplains commend Trump administration for decision to repeal controversial, expensive policy

WASHINGTON — Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty commended the Trump administration Wednesday for its decision to ensure that the armed services are fully focused on defending America and its allies.

“Serving in the military, whose only mission is to defend the nation, is a privilege and not a right,” said Chaplain (COL) Ron Crews, USA (Retired), executive director of Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty. “In an increasingly dangerous world full of ever present threats, the president’s announcement rightly prioritizes combat readiness over costly social experimentation by ending the current policy of providing and paying for expensive surgeries that prevent service members from being deployed.”

Studies project an estimated $1-3 billion in medical costs over the next 10 years. Additional costs impose a burden on an already strained military health care system – a system with the primary responsibility of serving service members who are injured in the line of duty.

In his statement, President Trump said that “our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.”

“The military has a history of selecting recruits to field the strongest military in the world, and that includes physical and medical considerations,” added CH (COL) Phil Wright, USA Retired, chaplain endorser for the Evangelical Free Church of America.

Crews explained that the Chaplain Alliance has been contacted by chaplains who have been concerned about the lack of conscience protections in the policy originally announced under the Obama administration.

“We remain committed that every American, especially those who serve in our military, be allowed to live out their faith without fear of recrimination,” he said.

Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty is an organization of chaplain endorsers, the faith groups that provide chaplains for the U.S. military and other agencies needing chaplains. The endorsers in Chaplain Alliance speak for more than 2,600 chaplains serving the Armed Forces.

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