Though federal funding for Planned Parenthood will likely remain intact for the duration of the president’s term, many state-level Republican lawmakers, including those in Texas and Missouri, have introduced legislation to defund or limit access to abortion services at Planned Parenthood in their states.
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Republicans have muscled legislation through the Senate aimed at crippling two of their favorite targets: President Barack Obama’s health care law and Planned Parenthood. With Republicans lacking the two-thirds House and Senate majorities needed for a successful override, debate on the measure became a political messaging battlefield as both parties looked toward the 2016 presidential and congressional campaigns.
With their support, after four years of trying, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell could finally get a repeal bill through the Senate and to the president’s desk to be vetoed.
This week, government officials said that health care spending grew 5.3% in 2014, the steepest climb since Mr Obama took office.
Although direct federal funding for abortion is heavily restricted by USA law, the organization receives about $500 million each year in public funds.
The bill does stop all of Obamacare but it effectively ends the mandate that requires most people to purchase health insurance. “For years, Democrats prevented the Senate from passing legislation to do so”.
Additionally, the bill includes language defunding Planned Parenthood.
All four GOP presidential candidates in the Senate – Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio and Rand Paul – voted in favor of the bill. Johnson also says the federal exchange that Wisconsin uses has narrower and fewer choices for health policies.
“While Republicans may want to avoid taking this tough vote, Democrats are going to keep making it very clear exactly where we stand: with women across the country”, said Democratic Sen.
Earlier this week, a gunman entered Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs in a five-hour siege that left three people dead, including a police officer.
“Everybody knows it’s just a gesture of futility”, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said on the Senate floor Thursday. Mr. Obama is expected to veto it.
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The new bill seeks to phase out a major expansion of Medicaid healthcare benefits and eliminate subsidies and taxes on medical devices and high-cost plans offered by employers. Orrin Hatch. “It’s now time the Obama administration and Democrats own up to the law’s failures, reverse course, and work with Republicans to forge patient-centered reforms that reduce costs and improve care for the American people”.
