The legislation passed 52 to 47 and needs to be approved by the House before being sent to the White House, where President Obama has already vowed to veto it. Republicans hailed the bill as a political message and a fulfillment of promises to force Obama to veto his landmark healthcare reform law.
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House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said in an address on Thursday that repealing Obamacare would remain the GOP’s top priority even if this year’s legislation is killed.
The bill would be the first to reach Obama’s desk aimed at demolishing his 2010 health care overhaul and halting federal payments to Planned Parenthood.
House Republicans have voted more than 50 times to repeal or delay the law, which Congress enacted with only Democratic votes.
Six days after the Colorado Springs mass murder and the day after the San Bernardino massacre, Senate Republicans voted proactively to allow potential terrorists and mentally unstable people and potential mass murderers to easily obtain firearms. The measure also repeals the 2.3 percent excise tax on medical devices, and eliminates the financial penalties associated with the individual and employer mandates for obtaining and providing health coverage.
As for Planned Parenthood, the organization would stop receiving the about US$450 million in federal funding per year, corresponding to a third of its budget. But the amendment failed, and the loss of two of the more moderate Republicans didn’t prevent the bill from clearing the body. Anti-abortion activists have released videos earlier this year, claiming that Planned Parenthood makes profit by selling tissues of unborn babies.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called the repeal a victory for middle class families.
President Obama is expected to veto the legislation and Democrats likely have the votes to block an override.
“Do they talk to their constituents?” Between violence at health centers and a variety of legislative attacks against reproductive health care providers, women in this country are facing an unprecedented number of barriers when they need to end a pregnancy safely and legally.
The bill was a stronger version of one originally passed by the House.
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Planned Parenthood spokesman Dawn Laguens said the Senate had given the group’s millions of clients “the cold shoulder of indifference”. “I’ll take that to the polls and we’ll talk about it until the cows come home”. McConnell said on the floor, according to the report.
