Conservatives were accusing Democrats of voting to protect taxpayer funds for an organization whose campaign contributions tilt lopsidedly to Democratic candidates.
Advertisement
Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., has said he expects to get several dozen signatures on a letter opposing any spending bill containing money for Planned Parenthood, and some GOP senators, including Cruz, Paul and others, have voiced similar sentiments. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was one of the notable votes against the bill, but explained his decision was only to keep the door open for a future vote to defund the organization.
“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 in a statement.
The anti-abortion Center for Medical Progress has released four videos in which people posing as representatives of a company that purchases fetal tissue converse with Planned Parenthood officials. As in previous videos, the official describes how her clinic retrieves tissue and technicians pick through fetal organs – including what looks like a small arm – in lab dishes. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., speaks to reporters in defense of Planned Parenthood as Sens. He’d earlier sent questions to Planned Parenthood headquarters and asked the Justice Department about its enforcement of related laws.
Monday’s mostly party-line vote was 53-46 to halt Democratic delays aimed at derailing the bill, seven short of the 60 votes the Republicans needed.
Republicans expected to lose but envisioned political gain because the videos have fired up their core conservative, anti-abortion voters.
The United States Senate doesn’t seem to have enough backbone to take a stand against Planned Parenthood, but Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal sure does.
Planned Parenthood, which provides family planning and contraception in addition to terminating pregnancies, has been a target of conservative Republican politicians for years.
Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards said Monday’s vote showed the bill was “a political nonstarter”. “Such a culture shows little regard for women’s health”, he continued. “He would veto any legislation that tried to advance wholesale defunding for Planned Parenthood“.
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. Last week, a federal judge in San Francisco placed a temporary restraining order on CMP that enjoined it from releasing any more of its videos, specifically those relating to the National Abortion Federation, after NAF officials claimed that the videos could make them unsafe.
