The House passed a bill Friday, 241-186, that would place an immediate freeze on all Planned Parenthood federal funding for one year, while Congress investigates the abortion giant following revelations that it harvests the body parts of aborted babies to be sold on the open market.
In testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee Thursday, an attorney asserted that the Obama administration’s actions to protect Planned Parenthood has given the nation’s largest abortion provider a special privilege not given to other Medicaid providers, while also “robbing the states of control over their own state Medicaid programs to protect a politically powerful but ethically and legally challenged organization.”
Only one national pro-life leader is publicly taking the position that a bill to defund Planned Parenthood attached to must-pass legislation would be harmful to the pro-life cause. “[I] think Planned Parenthood is a vile organization, and I resent the fact that they get any tax money,” Tobias said. “But realistically, with President Obama in the White House holding that veto pen, I don’t know that any government shutdown could accomplish what we want. What we have to do is get a new pro-life president in, and we’d have a much better chance of actually taking away their money.”
Sen. Ted Cruz continued his commitment to defund Planned Parenthood during Wednesday night’s CNN GOP debate, even if it means a federal spending bill does not pass because taxpayer dollars for the abortion business are included in it.
More than 11,000 people participated in a pro-life webcast event saluting the work of David Daleiden, executive director of the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), for his efforts to expose Planned Parenthood’s practices of harvesting the body parts of aborted babies and sell them on the open market.
Even after the release of a tenth video further exposing Planned Parenthood’s booming business in the sale of aborted baby parts, House Republican leaders who claim to be horrified at the abortion giant’s practices are still hesitant to eliminate its federal funding from a temporary spending bill for fear of being blamed by Democrats and the liberal media for a government shutdown.
Echoing McConnell’s words, the Ohio Governor said in New Hampshire Saturday and then argued on Fox News Sunday, that President Obama would veto any spending bill that transfers funds from Planned Parenthood to women’s healthcare facilities that do not perform abortions. Kasich warns that could make Republicans vulnerable if the government subsequently shuts down.
House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy has scheduled a vote for the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015 for Friday, September 18, despite opposition from the Senate’s GOP leadership.
In a letter to the Thomas More Society public interest law firm, an attorney representing Office Depot says that the pro-life prayer its Schaumburg, Illinois store was asked to photocopy falls within the company’s definition of “hate material.”
The House Freedom Caucus affirms that its members oppose “any spending measure that contains funding for Planned Parenthood.” The statement comes as Republican leaders, hoping to avert a government shutdown, are facing strong opposition from House conservatives refusing to approve a budget that includes funding for the abortion giant. Planned Parenthood is currently under investigation by at least three congressional committees following the release of videos exposing its practices of harvesting the body parts of aborted babies for sale on the open market.
Office Depot has refused to print copies of a pro-life prayer on the grounds that to do so violates company policy of printing material that “advocates the persecution of people who support abortion rights.”
Presidential contender Sen. Rand Paul and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin headlined a #WomenBetrayed rally on Capitol Hill Thursday that urged Congress to pass a budget with no funding in it for Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider.
U.S. abortion-giant Planned Parenthood would keep almost 90 percent of its taxpayer revenue if Congress passed a supposed “defunding” bill introduced by NC Rep. Renee Ellmers, a close ally of the GOP’s leadership.
Two women who survived botched abortions during the 1970s testified Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee as part of its investigation into Planned Parenthood’s practices following the release of a series of videos that exposed the group’s sale of body parts of aborted babies on the open market.
A Washington Post article about the relocation of Planned Parenthood’s new flagship abortion clinic next door to Two Rivers Public Charter School indicates the school’s executive director appears concerned about the images of aborted babies her students could see on the signs of pro-life protesters. But no mention is made about concerns of the abortions going on inside.
Though Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Congress is without means to defund Planned Parenthood until a new president is in the White House, leading House Republicans still plan to schedule a vote to end taxpayer support for the nation’s largest abortion provider when House members return to Washington next week.
In a tweet, Rep. Tim Huelskamp is calling out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for his statement that his first priority when he returns to Washington will be to fund the government. McConnell said this Congress will not defund Planned Parenthood at the expense of ensuring the government remains funded and open.
The Obama administration has awarded more than $1 million in “navigator”grants to Planned Parenthood affiliates for their efforts to help sign people up for Obamacare during the coming open enrollment period.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that without a president “with a different point of view about Planned Parenthood,” defunding the abortion industry giant would have to wait until 2017.
In a court filing that appears to support Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit days before the Jindal administration and Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast (PPGC) head to federal court over the decision, the DOJ said Jindal’s administration has not adequately shown why the abortion provider’s contract should be terminated, and that the decision violates laws that allow Medicaid patients to choose their own medical doctors, reports nola.com. PPGC is asking the court for a temporary restraining order against the Jindal administration’s decision to cut its federal funding.
Despite having a foundation in a faith that values life from conception and denounces abortion, some Catholic colleges have relationships with Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider.
With the ACLU at its side, Planned Parenthood has filed a lawsuit against Alabama following the state’s decision to terminate its Medicaid contract. This comes in the wake of the recent video scandal exposing the abortion provider’s practices of harvesting aborted baby body parts to sell on the open market.
A firm with a history of ties to Democrats and harassing individuals who donate to Republican social conservatives prepared the report Planned Parenthood is using to defend itself to members of Congress following its ongoing video scandal.
Kansas loses approximately $370,000 annually in federal Title X “family planning” funding that the Planned Parenthood affiliates in Wichita and Hays – and another unaffiliated facility in Dodge City – had been receiving. The Obama administration acted after Kansas passed a bill that directed Title X “family planning” funds to public health departments and hospitals, shifting it away from Planned Parenthood.
As the controversy over taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood is likely to heat up when the House of Representatives’ recess ends, Speaker John Boehner’s health policy adviser – who is also the sister of Cate Dyer, CEO of StemExpress, which has partnered with Planned Parenthood – has quietly resigned from her position on Boehner’s staff.
