Democratic Sen. Says He’ll Vote To Defund Planned Parenthood

Even so, the GOP is hoping to reap political gains because the videos have ignited the party’s core conservative, anti-abortion voters.

Three Republican senators seeking the nomination, Texas’ Ted Cruz, Kentucky’s Rand Paul and Florida’s Marco Rubio, voted on Monday in favor of advancing the bill to defund Planned Parenthood, but a fourth, South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, was absent. According to their most recently annual report, Planned Parenthood received at least $528 million annually from the federal government or other levels of government. Were Planned Parenthood to lose its funding, the impact would be dire, especially for those who rely on public health services.

“The truth is the Republicans and their extreme allies have been out to get Planned Parenthood for decades”, Boxer said.

“It’s our obligation to protect our wives, our sisters, our daughters, our granddaughters” from the GOP’s “absurd policies”, said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

But Planned Parenthood does not perform abortions in Louisiana, one reason why some people think the move is just a political Hail Mary designed to gain clout before the first Republican national debate.

Leader McConnell is a strong supporter of the legislation and in fact was a co-sponsor when the bill was introduced last week. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said he would back the Republican legislation. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a presidential candidate, was in New Hampshire and didn’t vote.

“The more Americans learn about Planned Parenthood’s horrific practices, the easier it will be for Congress to defund them”, said Emily Schillinger, spokeswoman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.

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Jindal’s office also said the health department was concerned that Planned Parenthood was violating a Louisiana law prohibiting a group that contracts with the state from recommending that women have abortions.

The group has apologized for the language used in the videos, but insists it was taken out of context and that it does not profit from providing the tissue to medical researchers; merely seeking instead to cover its costs.

“Continued funding for the important health services provided by Planned Parenthood is critical to the health of women and their families”.

The first-term Iowa senator has said that cutting off funding would not hurt women’s health care as the money would be redirected to community health centers and other organizations providing those services.

The bill was introduced following the release of gruesome footage showcasing Planned Parenthood’s role in the harvesting of the organs of unborn babies.

A bill to defund Planned Parenthood failed a procedural vote in the U.S. Senate today. Sen. In recent weeks, multiple videos have surfaced showing Planned Parenthood Federation of America senior personnel and other employees describing how they actively engage in illegal partial birth abortion procedures and conduct these abortions in a manner that leaves body parts intact so that they can later be sold on the open market.