House Republicans Pass Ban on Planned Parenthood Funding

The controversial bill, appropriately titled the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015, passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a margin of 54 votes. The battle has been rejoined just in time for the 2016 election campaign and next week’s historic address to Congress by Pope Francis. “How can there possibly be two sides to this?” They said the true GOP goal was to whip up conservative voters with bills that would result in diminished health care for women. “Many Alabamians have now seen or at least heard about the deplorable undercover videos that show Planned Parenthood leadership casually discussing the best techniques for preserving the organs of aborted babies so they can be resold for maximum compensation”.

Planned Parenthood receives approximately $450 million yearly in federal payments and has nearly 700 clinics providing services such as sexual disease testing and contraceptives.

No federal money can be spent on abortion except in dire circumstances such as rape or incest.

Peters said after the vote that it was a waste of time by Republicans. The bill isn’t expected to pass in the Senate – and President Obama has said he would veto any bill that defunds the group.

GOP leaders’ efforts to avoid a shutdown were explicitly endorsed Friday by the nation’s most powerful anti-abortion group.

“Let’s be clear who is really behind the attempts to defund Planned Parenthood“, she says.

“I don’t think the American people have patience with playing politics with women’s health“, Aulwes said.

Student organized Women Betrayed 14 rally against Planned Parenthood at US Capitol in Washington DC on July 28 2015.

It’s uncertain whether the Senate will even take up the House-passed measure, and if it does, Democrats have vowed to block consideration on final passage. We should be voting on consequential matters that have a chance of becoming law, not on theatrical message bills to mollify elements of the Republican base. The other bill, called the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, criminally charges medical workers who fail to help an infant born after an unsuccessful abortion.

Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin voted in favor while Democrat Rep. Chellie Pingree was opposed.

“Tragically, President Obama – the abortion president – has vowed to veto this pro-child, human-rights legislation, a position that is extreme, anti-child, inhumane and indefensible”, wrote Rep. Chris Smith, R.-N.J., in a statement about H.R. 3504.

The controversy received another shot of attention when Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina said during this week’s CNN debate that the videos showed “a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain”.