The Department of Defense has released partial data for its policy that covered travel expenses for service members seeking an abortion. 

The policy authorized administrative absences as well as travel and transportation allowances that gave service members and their dependents access to ‘non-covered reproductive healthcare.’ That includes non-covered abortion and assisted reproductive technology like in vitro fertilization, ovarian stimulations and egg retrieval. 

Per figures released Tuesday, this policy was used 12 times between June and December 2023, Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said. 

The number accounts for how many times the policy was used, not how many people used it. Therefore, it could have been used several times by the same service member. 

In those 12 instances mentioned, the total cost paid by the Pentagon was slightly under $40,800. Singh did not disclose what specific non-covered reproductive healthcare services were used due to privacy concerns.

Singh said the DOD’s respective services were given an August deadline to submit data. Some were earlier than others, which accounts for no data being available from January to May 2023. 

The Biden administration introduced the policy in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling the summer prior that overturned Roe v. Wade. It proved controversial, igniting an uproar among Republican lawmakers who tried to kill it. 

In February 2023, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., embarked on a one-man crusade by blocking President Biden’s military nominations over what he described as the Pentagon’s ‘illegal’ policy of providing travel expense reimbursement to service members who seek an abortion. He finally ended his campaign in December. 

Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.

Pro-life leaders are accusing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of operating with a ‘reckless disregard for women’s health and safety’ over the agency’s handling of a controversial abortion pill that’s now at the center of a high-stakes high court case.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday heard arguments in a case that could curb nationwide access to abortion pills such as mifepristone — the drug that’s drawn the ire of the pro-life community, including March for Life President Jeanne Mancini. 

‘The FDA’s removal of nearly all safeguards around the dangerous abortion drug mifepristone has needlessly put women and girls at risk for suffering severe — even life-threatening — complications without the ongoing care of a medical provider,’ Mancini said. ‘We hope the FDA will be held accountable for failing to meet its own standards when it comes to abortion drugs. Such reckless disregard for women’s health and safety is unacceptable from an agency tasked with protecting it.’

The case, FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, centers around mifepristone. Approved by the FDA in 2000, the medication is used alongside another drug to end a pregnancy as early as 10 weeks gestation.

The FDA took strides in 2021 — the year before the Supreme Court’s June 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade — to make mifepristone more accessible, including by removing the requirement for patients to see a doctor in person to get a prescription. 

But months after the Supreme Court’s landmark summer decision, a federal appeals court in Texas ruled the FDA’s policy change was illegal, as was an earlier update that extended the pill’s recommended usage by several weeks. The high court is now reviewing that decision.

‘Bowing to pressure from the abortion industry, the FDA loosened the safety requirements of mifepristone which still has a black box warning,’ National Right to Life President Carol Tobias said. ‘Drugs that come with black box warnings have the most dangerous side effects and safety concerns, yet the FDA is okay with mifepristone being prescribed and even mailed to women without an in-person exam.’

SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser told Fox News Digital that she ‘was proud to stand with women harmed by abortion drugs courageously sharing their stories, and with the doctors caring for them, in contrast to the abortion industry that leaves women to suffer alone.’

‘Today we are standing up to say women’s health matters and the FDA must do its job. We urge the Supreme Court to uphold safeguards for women and girls,’ she said.

Erik Baptist, senior counsel of Alliance Defending Freedom, said that pro-life groups are ‘simply asking the Court to reinstate the original standards that were in effect for over 15 years.’

Meanwhile, pro-choice groups are maintaining that mifepristone is a safe and critical drug in the post-Roe landscape of reproductive health.

‘Decades of research and clinical experience have demonstrated that mifepristone is extraordinarily safe and effective, including when dispensed by pharmacies or through the mail,’ Rabia Muqaddam, senior staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, told Fox News Digital. ‘There is no legitimate science disputing this research. Instead, the plaintiffs in the case rely on widely discredited and even retracted research articles and the say-so of anti-abortion zealots.’

Muqaddam added: ‘If the Supreme Court sides with the plaintiffs and their junk science over the FDA and decades of high-quality research, countless people will suffer as will the ability of Americans to access important drug innovations.’

Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson cast the case as a ‘threat’ to women’s rights — and more.

‘Beyond the threat to our fundamental rights, the very existence of this case puts every other FDA-approved medication at risk of being taken off the market or restricted for political reasons,’ Johnson said. ‘That is reason enough to be clear about how serious this case is for the future of sexual and reproductive health care and everything beyond.’

New York Attorney General Letitia James spearheading the civil fraud case against former president Donald Trump, took a trip to Washington, D.C., Tuesday to address a crowd of protesters outside the Supreme Court and encourage them to ‘march to the polls and vote.’ 

James spoke to a crowd gathered outside the high court as justices inside were hearing debates challenging the federal regulation of the abortion pill mifepristone. 

‘[Get] your hands off our body. Because it’s our body, our choice. We will fight. We will win. And we will protect abortion rights now and forever,’ James shouted from the podium.

‘Let’s go, women. And let’s march to the polls and vote!’ she exclaimed. 

It’s unclear exactly what election in which she was encouraging women to vote, and she didn’t explicitly name a candidate. 

The presumptive nominee in the 2024 presidential race for the Republican Party — whose platform generally reflects limiting abortion access — is Donald Trump, whom James is suing.

On Monday, a New York appeals court ruled dealt a significant blow to James’ case by slashing Trump’s $454 million bond by 60% — allowing him to appeal the case further. 

James sued Trump under a New York State Executive law that gives broad investigative authority and that was designed to protect against consumer fraud.

She accused him and his company of inflating the values of properties in order to secure better rates on loans from banks. In this unusual case, the state couldn’t prove obvious victims Trump had harmed that incurred major losses. 

Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Engoron in February sided against Trump, and imposed what’s known as a ‘disgorgement’ — a legal remedy that requires someone who profited illegally to give back any profits made while engaging in the illegal activity.  

But the appeals court slashed his judgment by more than half — ordering Trump to pay $175 million in 10 days, which he said he would do. 

‘I DID NOTHING WRONG, AND NEW YORK SHOULD NEVER BE PUT IN A POSITION LIKE THIS AGAIN. BUSINESSES ARE FLEEING, VIOLENT CRIME IS FLOURISHING, AND IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT THIS BE RESOLVED IN ITS TOTALITY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. THANK YOU!’ Trump posted to his Truth Social account in all capital letters. 

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for James on Monday said Trump ‘is still facing accountability for his staggering fraud.’ 

‘The court has already found that he engaged in years of fraud to falsely inflate his net worth and unjustly enrich himself, his family, and his organization,’ James’ spokesperson said. ‘The $464 million judgment — plus interest — against Donald Trump and the other defendants still stands.’

Trump has vowed to fight the case ‘all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.’

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer appears to be pouring cold water on the prospects of impeaching President Biden in a new fundraising email sent to voters on Monday evening.

Comer said ‘criminal referrals’ would be the ‘culmination’ of his ongoing impeachment inquiry.

In the message sent to supporters, the Kentucky Republican blamed Democrats and cited the left’s uniform opposition to impeaching Biden’s Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. 

‘I’ve presented mountains of evidence confirming Joe Biden’s involvement in his family’s influence peddling scheme, and I just had a group of the Biden family’s business confidants publicly testify about the first family’s criminal activity,’ Comer’s email read. ‘At any other time in history, that would have been the final nail in the coffin of the Biden Crime Family’s reign of corruption.’

‘But we are not in a normal time in history… As it stands right now, the deranged Democrats are refusing to take up the Impeachment Trial of Alejandro Mayorkas and threatening to dismiss it within minutes when it finally is brought up. Even ‘centrist’ Democrats called the Mayorkas Impeachment Trial ‘ridiculous’ just days after a criminal illegal brutally murdered Laken Riley in cold blood.’

House Republicans voted to impeach Mayorkas over the border crisis last month, but the impeachment articles have not yet been sent over to the Senate. Once they are, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., must act on them swiftly – though the Democratic majority is likely to scuttle them as soon as possible.

Comer’s email then asked, ‘What do you think they would do if we Impeached Biden?’

‘It’s clear that Democrats will choose their party over their country and the truth at every turn. They should be ashamed of themselves. That’s why I am preparing criminal referrals as the culmination of my investigation,’ he wrote.

‘When President Trump returns to the White House, it’s critical the new leadership at the DOJ have everything they need to prosecute the Biden Crime Family and deliver swift justice.’

Comer said criminal referrals are ‘the best way’ to hold the Bidens accountable, ‘as it’s now clear the Democrats will do anything to hold onto power.’

He made similar comments during a Newsmax interview last week after the House held its second impeachment inquiry hearing. Hunter Biden, whose foreign business dealings are a central focus of investigators looking into whether then-Vice President Biden used his position to enrich his family, turned down an invitation to appear at that event.

Earlier this month, Fox News Digital heard from several GOP lawmakers who, while maintaining they believe the president is guilty of at least acting improperly, admitted current conditions in the House make it unlikely the chamber will actually impeach him. 

Those prospects will get trickier after April 19 when Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., leaves early, leaving House Republicans with just a one-vote majority. 

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., a member of the Oversight Committee, told Fox News Digital last week that it’s ‘very possible’ there will be a full House vote, but said impeaching Biden ‘has never been the purpose’ of the inquiry.

‘The purpose is doing these investigations. We have a formalized impeachment inquiry because some of the initial information we’ve uncovered has led us to the current information now,’ Donalds said.

When asked whether he meant the impeachment inquiry’s goal was not an impeachment vote, Donalds challenged, ‘That’s not what I’m saying.’

‘It was about doing our investigation into the allegations of public corruption by the Biden family. We have now proven that yes, there was public corruption going on… The question now becomes, does all the evidence we have take us to high crimes and misdemeanors? But you have to have an impeachment inquiry in order to assess and gain all that information,’ he said. ‘Unlike the Democrats, we didn’t walk in just promising impeachment on day one.’

Former President Donald Trump is urging Israeli authorities to ‘finish up’ their offensive into the Gaza region, saying that the world is turning against their campaign.

Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president in 2024, sat down for an interview with Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom about the ongoing military invasion — and warned that the world was growing tired of the conflict.

‘You have to finish up your war. You have to finish it up. You’ve got to get it done,’ he told the newspaper. 

He continued, ‘We’ve got to get to peace. You can’t have this going on, and I will say Israel has to be very careful because you are losing a lot of the world. You are losing a lot of support.’

Israel has been waging an offensive in the Gaza region since the days following the Oct. 7 massacre — the massive terrorist attack launched by Hamas that killed over 1,200 Israelis citizens.

Meanwhile, relations between President Biden’s administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government continue to fray.

Netanyahu has vowed that an invasion into the city of Rafah is imminent, with or without U.S. approval.

‘That’s a terrible portrait. It’s a very bad picture for the world,’ Trump told the newspaper about Israel’s ground offensive. ‘I think Israel wanted to show that it’s tough, but sometimes you shouldn’t be doing that.’

Palestinian casualties in the conflict following Oct. 7 have passed 30,000, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Trump was also sharply critical of the Biden administration’s handling of the conflict during the interview, claiming Hamas would not have committed the Oct. 7 massacre if he had been in office.

‘He can’t talk. He’s a very dumb person. He’s a dumb person. His foreign policy throughout 50 years has been horrible,’ he told Israel Hayom. ‘If you look at people that were in other administrations with him, they saw him as a weak, ineffective president, they [Hamas] would have never done that attack if I were there.’

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

A Russian court on Tuesday again extended the detention of Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal who was arrested a year ago on what the U.S. decries as bogus espionage charges. 

Moscow City Court officials said Gershkovich will remain in custody until at least June 30. The 32-year-old U.S. citizen was arrested and detained on March 29, 2023, while on a reporting trip to the city of Yekaterinburgand and has been behind bars ever since. He is being held at Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, which is notorious for its harsh conditions.

Photos from the courtroom released by court officials showed Gershkovich, clad in a black checkered shirt, smiling from the glass defendant’s box, according to the Associated Press. 

Gershkovich and his employer have denied the allegations, and the U.S. government has declared him to be wrongfully detained.

U.S. ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy attended the court hearing on Tuesday and reiterated that ‘the accusations against Evan are categorically untrue.’

‘They are not a different interpretation of circumstances. They are fiction,’ Tracy told reporters outside of the courthouse. ‘No justification for Evan’s continued detention, and no explanation as to why Evan doing his job as a journalist constituted a crime. Evan’s case is not about evidence, due process or rule of law. It is about using American citizens as pawns to achieve political ends.’

In a statement issued through the State Department, Tracy further called on Russian authorities to release Gershkovich and U.S. Marine veteran Paul Whelan. 

‘Evan has displayed remarkable resilience and strength in the face of this grim situation, Tracy said. ‘But it is time for the Russian government to let Evan go. If the Kremlin has any desire to salvage Russia’s integrity and international esteem, they should do what is right and release Evan and Paul immediately.’ 

Whelan has been detained for more than five years. He was assaulted by a fellow prisoner laboring in a Russian penal colony late last year. He reportedly told the BBC in December during a call from his prison cell that he feels ‘abandoned’ by his country, which he noted has engaged in other prisoner swaps with Russia in the last several years, including female basketball player Brittney Griner.

‘It’s unfathomable to me that they’ve left me behind,’ Whelan said, reportedly referencing both the current Biden administration and former Trump administration.

Analysts have pointed out that Moscow may be using jailed Americans as bargaining chips in soaring U.S.-Russian tensions over the Kremlin’s military operation in Ukraine. 

At least two U.S. citizens arrested in Russia in recent years, including Griner, have been exchanged for Russians jailed in the U.S.

Gershkovich is the first American reporter to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since September 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for U.S. News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB. Daniloff was released without charge 20 days later in a swap for an employee of the Soviet Union’s U.N. mission who was arrested by the FBI, also on spying charges.

Fox News’ Nikolas Lanum and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be under the bright lights of the national campaign spotlight on Tuesday, as the Democrat turned independent presidential candidate is scheduled to announce his running mate.

The highly touted move will grab tons of media attention for Kennedy, the longtime environmental activist and high-profile vaccine skeptic who is the scion of the nation’s most storied political dynasty.

However, it will also likely boost Kennedy in his goal to get on the presidential ballot in all 50 states, as he needs a running mate to qualify in numerous states.

With a little over seven months to go until the presidential election, Utah is the only state where Kennedy’s name is confirmed. His campaign says he has secured enough signatures to land on the ballot in New Hampshire and Hawaii.

The campaign tells Fox News they plan announcements each week going forward regarding their ballot access efforts.

While Kennedy is confident he will reach his ballot access goal, attaining it is a costly and time-consuming venture for any candidate not tied to a major political party.

However, another move could quickly land Kennedy on the ballot from coast to coast. 

Kennedy, who is polling in the low double-digits in potential 2024 showdowns with President Biden, former President Trump and other third-party or independent contenders, has held occasional talks since last summer with leaders of the Libertarian Party, to possibly run on their ticket in November.

‘The Kennedy campaign is keeping all its options open,’ campaign spokesperson Stefanie Spear reiterated to Fox News in a statement.

That is the same line that Kennedy told reporters when he raised eyebrows by speaking at the Libertarian Party of California’s annual convention in late February. His appearance helped the state party draw a record-breaking crowd.

The Libertarian Party, which in the last couple of presidential elections has secured ballot access in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, will choose its presidential ticket when its unbound delegates gather for their annual convention this year in late May in Washington, D.C.

Libertarian Party Chair Angela McArdle has held a handful of conversations with Kennedy about obtaining the party’s nomination. Their most recent discussion came at the California convention in late February.

McArdle emphasized to Fox News that for candidates seeking the Libertarian Party presidential nomination, ‘it’s important to show up to state conventions’ to seek delegate support. 

While Kennedy has not appeared in person at any other Libertarian gatherings, his campaign did have a table earlier this month at the New York convention.

Kennedy appeals to many Libertarians, in part due to his repeated criticism of vaccine mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Kennedy’s policy differences with the Libertarians, including his strong support for Israel in its war in Gaza with Hamas, could be major sticking points for delegates attending the national convention later this spring. 

There are plenty of Libertarians opposed to allowing on their ballot a candidate who is not 100% in-line with their anti-war and non-interventionist positions.

While Kennedy is grabbing plenty of media attention, there are more than a dozen announced candidates already vying for the Libertarian Party nomination.