Senate Democrats blocked a vote Tuesday on a bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
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In the House, it’s possible that only an imminent deadline and Democratic support can avert a shutdown under the watch of Boehner.
After stating that he wants to see Planned Parenthood defunded because of his stance on abortions, Whoopi bluntly told him to rethink his decision. The organization can not legally use federal funds to finance abortions. Instead Republican leaders will have to rely on votes from Democrats if they hope to make good on promises to keep the government open.
Endometriosis has nothing to do with abortions – or even with pregnancy in general – but it’s just one of the many medical conditions unique to women that Planned Parenthood is capable of treating.
They will hold a closed-door conference meeting Friday morning to discuss the plan with rank-and-file. Everyone, on both sides of the political divide, knew that this bill would fail, but Senate GOP leaders proceeded anyway – so that members could “register” their views. “It’s really a shame we’re on the verge of another unnecessary crisis”.
McConnell says it is necessary to “pause” funding as the government continues to investigate the Planned Parenthood scandal, after it was previously revealed that anti-abortion activists altered videos to show clinics illegally selling fetal tissues. Planned Parenthood says it has broken no laws and says the videos were dishonestly manipulated to distort the recorded conversations.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards will answer questions at a hearing next Tuesday, marking the first time the organization has testified to Congress since the first videos were released in July.
Obama’s spokesman, Josh Earnest, reiterated Tuesday that the president won’t support a spending bill cutting Planned Parenthood’s funding.
Planned Parenthood has denied the accusations and said the videos are misleading.
McConnell’s spending measure would give the Obama administration much of what it asked for, while while saying no to a request to revive the Export-Import Bank. “But I think you can expect to see some activity soon”, Cornyn said. Republicans are capitalizing on the popular pope’s opposition to abortion to try to score political points, Democrats said.
Republicans, who suffered a public relations backlash after prompting a shutdown over the Affordable Care Act two years ago, are torn between satisfying their socially conservative base and appealing to the great majority of Americans who do not believe the Planned Parenthood issue warrants a shutdown.
The current spending bill would cut $28 million of the approximately $500 million Planned Parenthood receives; the remaining money is appropriated through Medicaid. Cruz has been a wildcard in the spending debate since 2013 when he played a major role in forcing a government shutdown in order to defund Obamacare.
But some other Republicans insisted that an abortion fight that leads to a government shutdown would make no sense.
On September 18, the House voted for a separate bill to block federal payments to Planned Parenthood for a year, though the action didn’t satisfy some Republicans who are willing to shut down the federal government over the issue.
“It’s time Republicans learned that workers, families and our economy should come before politics and partisanship – and not the other way around”.
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Not all Republicans agree with that approach.
