The GOP-run House will likely ship the measure to the White House in a few days. It also aims to deny funding to women’s health care provider Planned Parenthood, which Republicans have been trying to punish for months over accusations that it illegally sold tissue from aborted fetuses.
Advertisement
The legislation would repeal sections of Obamacare that mandate individuals to purchase health insurance and employers with more than 50 employees to provide it and would eliminate all fines for those that fail to comply.
According to the Susan B. Anthony fact sheet on Planned Parenthood, during the fiscal year 2013-2014 Planned Parenthood recieved more than $528 million in taxpayer funding.
The bill goes back to the House of Representatives and, if approved, will be sent to the White House where President Barack Obama is expected to veto the bill. However, this was mostly seen as a symbolic gesture aimed to give Republicans momentum in the upcoming election year as President Obama has vowed to veto the bill, which passed with a 54-46 split.
Do away with the taxes imposed to cover the law’s costs, including levies on the income of higher-earning people, medical devices, and tanning salons.
Senate Republicans have voted roughly eleventy-million times to repeal Obamacare, but today’s measure is the first in which they also attempted to tack on an amendment defunding Planned Parenthood, an entirely separate consideration. The measure, which was sponsored by three Senate Republicans, includes a provision that would have blocked federal funds for Planned Parenthood.
GOP lawmakers said the bill could serve as a bridge to a future Republican health care law. The organization says it conducts such transactions legally. Though Obama’s overhaul was enacted five years ago, Republicans have yet to produce a detailed proposal to replace it.
Republicans argued the voters were on their side. Collins said her amendment would have prohibited the use of federal funds for abortions, except in the cases of rape, incest or where the life of the mother is considered at risk. But No. 2 Senate GOP leader John Cornyn of Texas said the Senate bill was “bigger and better” than the House bill.
Advertisement
Sen. Tom Cotton also said Planned Parenthood has “proven itself unworthy of government support”.
