Republicans had hoped to persuade enough Democrats to join them to overcome the filibuster – a term used to describe an instance when a bill can’t get 60 votes to advance in the Senate.
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Several Eugene locals said that Planned Parenthood is a good thing and an important resource for them. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), have backed the push to defund Planned Parenthood in Congress, Clinton only targeted Walker, Bush, and Perry in her video. Instead, the group uses the money to provide women with birth control, cancer screenings, annual checkups, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, and other services.
Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren went further still, arguing the bill was “just one more piece of a deliberate, methodical orchestrated rightwing attack on women’s rights”. They sounded a theme Monday that they have employed in recent elections, characterizing the GOP drive as an assault on health care for women.
Republicans and some Democrats have harshly criticized Planned Parenthood over the videos, including calls for investigations into criminal action and calls to end federal funding of the organization.
“It is extremely disappointing that the Senate has failed to protect life, protect women’s health, and allowed these disgusting practices to continue while taxpayers foot the bill”, Roberts said following the vote.
Democrats are likely to block such bills in the Senate and President Barack Obama is almost certain to veto any reaching him.
Minutes after the vote, NARAL Pro-Choice America released a new TV ad campaign in New Hampshire, Ohio and Wisconsin hitting Republican senators for their votes. Cruz told Politico that Ernst’s bill was nothing more than a “show vote”, and that when it comes to the real fight, he is willing to do whatever it takes to defund Planned Parenthood. For years, activist groups like the Center for Medical Progress have sought to create controversy around Planned Parenthood as a way to reduce women’s access to health care.
The vote came in the wake of a series of videos allegedly showing senior Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of aborted fetal tissue. Planned Parenthood says the videos are selectively edited and that the organization recovers only costs of the procedures – which is legal – and gives the tissue only to researchers with the woman’s advance consent. “This is a continuation of the Republican war on women, Sen”. There are only two Planned Parenthood facilities in Louisiana, and neither performs abortions.
Republicans expected to lose but envisioned political gain because the videos have fired up their core conservative, anti-abortion voters. The organization said they are not breaking any laws and denied all of the allegations.
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The House can not act on any attempt to defund Planned Parenthood until lawmakers return from their August recess after Labor Day.
