After a little more than three hours of debate, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015 passed 241-187, with two Democrats and three Republicans crossing party lines.
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The bills are the first significant pieces of pro-life legislation to pass either chamber of Congress since July, when the Center for Medical Progress began releasing a series of undercover videos that suggest Planned Parenthood clinics profit from the sale of fetal body parts and violate other laws, such as the partial-birth abortion ban.
“It’s about access to health care, and particularly health care for women“, he said.
Those pushing to de-fund the organization were called out by Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) who stated that “Republicans are willing to risk women’s lives just to score political points”.
With only a few days left before the end of the fiscal year and the possibility of a federal shutdown in sight, the Senate is planning to vote on a spending bill that will include a measure defunding Planned Parenthood.
“Planned Parenthood takes half-a-billion dollars each year from struggling taxpayers to use in its abortion franchises nationwide, which do not provide full-service medical care for women”, said Dr. Charmaine Yoest, the president and CEO of Americans United for Life.
There was a surprising decision from one member of Minnesota’s congressional delegation in Friday’s vote to slash federal funding for Planned Parenthood. Federal money can only be used for abortion in rare circumstances. She brings up a letter Cruz sent to other senators asking them to oppose any government funding bill that contains Planned Parenthood funding.
But senate Republicans aren’t banking on that bill’s passage. President Obama has stated that he would veto any bill that attempts to freeze funding for the group. But he’s also trying to avoid a shutdown fight that GOP leaders worry would damage the party’s standing with voters and that they say they couldn’t win, because they lack the votes to prevail in the Senate or override Obama vetoes.
WATERLOO | U.S. Rep. Rod Blum, R-1st District, supported two anti-abortion measures that passed the U.S. House on Friday, immediately earning criticisms from Democrats seeking to unseat the freshman congressman.
She’s talking about the videos that surfaced over the summer that some say show Planned Parenthood officials making deals on how to sell aborted fetal tissue.
Mal Leary reports on Planned Parenthood.
Both anti-abortion measures passed the House on Friday with backing from all Ohio’s Republicans and opposition from all the state’s Democrats.
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For Franks, however, the legislation is a step in the right direction for protecting the rights of unborn children “in the face of atrocities committed by abortionists”.
