Planned Parenthood Protest
Hundreds of demonstrators gather outside the governor's mansion in St. Paul, Minn., Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015, in a protest calling for Governor Mark Dayton to defund and investigate Planned Parenthood.
(Jim Mone, Associated Press)
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday voted largely along party lines to strip federal money from Planned Parenthood for a year and to require doctors to provide live-saving medical care to infants who emerge alive during abortion attempts.
Although President Barack Obama has pledged to veto both bills if they're presented to him, Friday's vote gives abortion foes in Congress a way to publicly decry the family planning organization in a fashion that won't lead to a government shutdown.
Members of Congress who oppose abortion were outraged this summer when an anti-abortion group released videos that purport to show Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of body parts from aborted fetuses to researchers. Planned Parenthood says the videos were selectively edited and the organization donates fetal tissue to researchers and does not sell it.
"With two House committee investigations, we have an obligation to suspend federal funding to Planned Parenthood while the investigations are being conducted," Holmes County GOP Rep. Bob Gibbs argued on the House of Representatives floor. "Now is the time for all Americans to reflect on the fragile nature of life and how we treat the unborn. "
Some Republicans - including House Freedom Caucus chairman Jim Jordan of Champaign County - want to make defunding Planned Parenthood part of a spending bill that Congress must pass to keep the government open after current funding expires at the end of September.
But Republican leaders including House Speaker John Boehner of West Chester fear that strategy could backfire by causing a budget standoff that shuts down the government. Democrats in the Senate would be likely to block such a bill and President Obama has promised a veto any funding measures that don't provide money to Planned Parenthood.
While Jordan's faction believes the public would blame Democrats if a shutdown occurs over Planned Parenthood funding, Republican leaders showed their members polling data that indicates Republicans would be blamed, as they were during a 2013 government shutdown over Affordable Care Act funding.
Planned Parenthood gets more than $500 million each year from federal, state, and local governments, but it isn't allowed to use any of that money for abortions. Funds from foundations, private donors, and client fees pay for its abortions, while public dollars pay for less controversial services, like birth control, cancer screenings and sexually transmitted disease tests.
Both anti-abortion measures passed the House on Friday with backing from all Ohio's Republicans and opposition from all the state's Democrats. The bill to defund Planned Parenthood was adopted by a 241 to 187 margin, and the bill that requires medical care for infants who survive abortion attempts passed by 240 to 177.
The legislation to strip funding from Planned Parenthood for a year would direct the money the organization gets to other community health clinics. Republicans said the other groups could step in to provide the care Planned Parenthood provides, while Democrats said that won't happen and low-income people who rely on the organization won't get needed care.
"The legislation passed by the House today will ensure these horrific acts are not subsidized with Americans' tax dollars, and provide more resources to other community health centers while our investigation is ongoing," said a statement from Boehner. "It will also strengthen protections for babies who survive an abortion and are born alive."
Democrats called the Planned Parenthood vote a sideshow to distract the public from the GOP's ineffectual budgeting. They said the last shutdown caused $25 billion in damage to the economy, cost more than 100,000 jobs, and kept people who rely on government benefits from getting them in a timely way..
"Today's actions to defund Planned Parenthood are a slap in the face and a harmful assault on the 2.7 million women and men across the country and 56,939 in Ohio rely on these centers for women's heath exams, lifesaving cancer screenings, sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing and treatment, birth control and advice on family planning," said a statement that Niles-area Democrat Tim Ryan released after the vote.
After Jordan's group issued a statement that indicated its members will vote against any federal spending bill that contains money for Planned Parenthood, one of its members quit in disagreement over the tactic, arguing it would "shield Senate Democrats from their responsibility for a government shutdown and to alienate the public from the pro-life cause at precisely the time when undercover videos of Planned Parenthood's barbaric practices are turning public opinion in our favor."
In a publicly released letter to resign from the Freedom Caucus, California Republican Tom McClintock told Jordan the group's habit of trying to get its way with GOP leaders withholding its votes from must-pass legislation ends up thwarting vital conservative policy objectives and helping Democrats.
Jordan replied to his resignation with a statement that said: "Tom is a principled conservative and a valuable member of the House Republican Conference. The House Freedom Caucus looks forward to continuing to work with him, as well as every one of our colleagues, to give a voice to countless Americans who feel that Washington does not represent them."