INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Planned Parenthood Threatened: Senate Votes To Defund Program For One Year

By Val Powell
Published on: 23:05 PST, Dec 3, 2015

The Senate has just passed a bill that seeks to revoke key portions of the Affordable Care Act and take away the federal funding of Planned Parenthood for one year.

The bill will repeal some provisions of ObamaCare, which was passed into law in 2010.

The amendment bill, which was passed on Thursday, successfully went through senate voting, with a final tally of 52-47. Unlike other bills, the repeal bill only required 51 votes because the Senate used a different procedure for it. Otherwise, it would have been treated like other bills, which would typically require 60 votes to be passed.

Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, shared her disappointment in a statement about the recent passing of the bill. “It seems implausible that less than a week after a tragic shooting at the Planned Parenthood health center in Colorado Springs, some in Washington chose politics over compassion,” Laguens said.

In addition, Laguens said that after the tragic incidents in Colorado and California, people need reassurance that the government cares about their lives, health, and safety.

Instead, she said that what the legislators did was give the people the “cold shoulder of indifference.”

The bill will strip federal funding for Planned Parenthood, which has been battling an issue regarding the selling of infant tissue. Anti-abortion activists have released videos earlier this year, claiming that Planned Parenthood makes profit by selling tissues of unborn babies.

In October, Planned Parenthood claimed that it would “immediately stop” taking reimbursements for tissues provided for medical research purposes.

After passing the Senate, the bill will then proceed to the House of Representatives, where an earlier version of the bill was already approved on Oct. 23. But because the Senate made changes to it in order to abide by budgetary rules, the House of Representatives should vote once more.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that Obamacare has already led to more expensive health care, limited options for patients to choose their doctors, and additional burden to the struggling middle class. McConnell added that Obama and Democrats have a responsibility to the “millions his law has hurt,” and just sign the repeal.

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said that the repeal is a “gesture in futility.” He said that instead of pushing through the repeal, legislators should just think of better ways for the Affordable Care Act to work better for Americans.

Some of the key sections that would be gutted from the existing law include the mandate that everyone is required to get health insurance. Employers who have 50 or more employees are also required to get health insurance. If the President approves the repeal, there will no longer be fines to people and employers who fail to get health insurance. Planned Parenthood would also lose its funding for one year. In addition, the bill would stop federal subsidies that are received by more than six million low- and moderate-income Americans who are buying health insurance. This would also prevent ObamaCare from expanding Medicaid for the poor, which has already been adopted by 30 states.

Still, even if the bill passes the House of Representatives, it would face a certain veto at the hands of President Barack Obama once it reaches his desk.

Planned Parenthood is a non-profit organization that provides reproductive health services to American citizens. Initially called the American Birth Control League, the organization supports sexual education, research on reproductive health, and legal efforts to push and expand reproductive rights.

However, its reproductive services include assistance for abortion, an issue that is strongly opposed by pro-life activists.

[Image by Andrew Burton, Getty Images]

Share this article: Planned Parenthood Threatened: Senate Votes To Defund Program For One Year
Planned Parenthood
More from Inquisitr