The US Senate voted on 3 December to defund Planned Parenthood and repeal key provisions of the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.
Advertisement
Senate lawmakers voted to pass the bill after hours of debate on a string of amendments, many of them unrelated to the underlying bill.
Democrats claim that Obamacare, formally titled the Affordable Care Act, has provided 17.6 million Americans with health care and prevented insurance companies from refusing to insure patients with preexisting conditions.
In order to win over some reluctant Republicans, the Senate version of the bill also included language that phases out Obamacare’s expansion of Medicaid over two years.
Planned Parenthood, however, saw things differently, releasing a statement calling the measure a cynical political attack.. The legislation aims to deal with GOP objections to ACA and Planned Parenthood through reconciliation rather than the omnibus spending bill, where a standoff with Democrats could again raise the specter of a government shutdown. The Senate successfully passed a bill yesterday to repeal much of Obamacare, passing by a vote of 52 to 47.
The House is expected to vote on the bill soon.
The legislation would repeal the individual and employer mandates, Cadillac tax, medical device tax, and eliminate the Independent Payment Advisory Board. USA Today reported that Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont was absent from voting.
Arkansas’ senators, both Republicans, supported the legislation.
Democrats have argued that millions of people now have insurance and have seen their health coverage improved under the law.
Party leaders initially encountered objections from some more moderate Republicans leery of cutting Planned Parenthood’s funds and from presidential contenders, Sens.
President Barack Obama, however, has already said he will veto the Senate bill.
“What we are doing is listening to our constituents, who’ve told us that they’ve had one bad experience after another with Obamacare”, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, said according to The Washington Times. The G-O-P controlled House has voted dozens of times to repeal it. The bill also cuts funding to Planned Parenthood for 12 months.
Planned Parenthood – a major provider of women’s health services that receives funding from the government – offers preventive checkups, contraceptives and abortions, a highly emotive and divisive issue in America. The group says the videos were deceptively doctored and say it has done nothing illegal.
Advertisement
“People will die if they don’t get health insurance”, Barrett said.
