Planned Parenthood became a GOP target last month after secretly-recorded videos surfaced, showing employees discussing the group’s little-noticed sale of fetal organs for legal fetal tissue research. Meanwhile, Alderman says in a recent year Planned Parenthood had 2.7 million patients and provided almost 400,000 pap tests, and a half million breast exams. The bill says it would transfer Planned Parenthood’s aid to other women’s health care providers.
Advertisement
Planned Parenthood receives more than $500 million yearly in government funds – including state payments – more than one-third of its annual $1.3 billion in revenue.
“The Center for Medical Progress follows all applicable laws in the course of our investigative journalism work and will contest all attempts from Planned Parenthood and their allies to silence our First Amendment rights”, he said.
“Federal rules already require that Planned Parenthood can not use any federal funding to perform abortions”. Democrats say an attack on Planned Parenthood is an effort to keep women, many of them poor, from needed health services.
“When we’re talking about defunding Planned Parenthood to the extreme that these politicians are talking about, the intent is to shut Planned Parenthood down and prevent us from being able to provide services, except for people who have insurance or who want to pay out of pocket”.
Democrats generally have rallied against the bill, painting the GOP drive as an assault on women’s health care.
Underscoring the sensitivity, some moderates will likely cross party lines Monday.
Planned Parenthood says the videos are heavily edited and take discussions out of context.
In 2011, House Republicans passed a spending bill that stripped money for Planned Parenthood, and the fight over the issue came close to causing a government shutdown. The order applies only to a trade group representing independent abortion businesses not affiliated with Planned Parenthood.
“The more Americans learn about Planned Parenthood’s horrific practices, the easier it will be for Congress to defund them”, said Emily Schillinger, spokeswoman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.
Advertisement
The Kentucky senator told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday “I support any legislation that will defund Planned Parenthood“.
