A measure in the U.S. House of Representatives passed on Friday to temporarily suspend the availability of any funds to Planned Parenthood of America, Inc. or any of its affiliates, for one year during an investigation of the abortion provider. The moratorium of federal funding is entitled the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015.
The measure would defund the largest abortion provider unless the company certifies that the affiliates and clinics will not perform, and will not provide any funds to any other entity that performs, an abortion during such period.
Rep. Diane Black, a Republican congresswoman from Tennessee, is the sponsor of the bill, H.R. 3134. Black worked as a nurse for forty years.
In her interview with Fox News, Rep. Black relayed how Planned Parenthood gets $500,000 – half a billion dollars in federal funds a year.
Rep. Black said it was not just about the end game of defunding Planned Parenthood, but about getting folks to see the “despicable behavior” of the company.
The bill passed by a vote of 241-187, with three Republicans and 184 Democrats voting “No.” Representative Steve King voted “Present,” and there were five representatives that did not vote. Two Democrats crossed over to the majority in voting yes. Three Republicans joined with Democrats in voting no.
In a statement obtained by Breitbart Texas, Rep. Black said, “The big abortion industry and its enablers in Washington cannot defend the inhumane activities seen in these undercover Planned Parenthood videos, so they twist the truth about our efforts as a distraction.”
Breitbart News reported in August that in the latest video by Center for Medical Progress, a former employee of Planned Parenthood describes a medical technician using scissors to cut through the face of a newly aborted, but nearly fully developed baby boy. The purpose was to ensure that his intact brain could be extracted for harvesting. One of the employees took an instrument and said she “tapped the heart and it starts beating.” This horrific act happened at the Planned Parenthood mega-clinic in San Jose, California – a facility that has a budget of $100 million or ten percent of the national organization.
In mid-July, a video shot last summer by the Center for Medical Progress purports to show the chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood talking about how to abort a child intact so that the child’s body parts can be transferred for medical and scientific research, as reported by Breitbart News. The eight-minute video shows Dr. Deborah Nucatola, in-between taking bites of food and sipping wine, talking about the market for, and price of, hearts, lungs, intact livers, and lower extremities from aborted babies.
Fetal tissue may be legally obtained by companies as long as an abortion provider does not profit from the transaction. The company may only be reimbursed for costs.
Federal law provides that the buying or selling of human body parts is a felony. Trafficking of aborted body parts for a commercial purpose is a crime punishable up to ten years in prison and/or a $500,000 fine.
Another video released July 21st by the Center for Medical Progress showed a senior medical adviser of Planned Parenthood appearing to negotiate the price of baby body parts with individuals acting as entrepreneurs from a start-up biotech firm, as reported by Breitbart News.
In another report by Breitbart News, undercover investigator David Daleiden told CNN that StemExpress was trying to suppress the video he took of its CEO on May 22nd, because the company did not want anyone to know it buys whole intact dead babies from Planned Parenthood.
Rep. Black told Fox News that even though President Obama promises to veto the legislation, the vote in the U.S. House was not a “symbolic vote.” The representative said it is their obligation to show what is happening “behind closed doors” at Planned Parenthood. She said American people need to hold the President accountable for the inhumane activity there. She said this is something “we cannot accept in the United States.”
The congresswoman from Tennessee also stated, “Here’s the truth: my bill to defund Planned Parenthood doesn’t cut a single dime from women’s health care. In fact, we’re increasing funding to community health centers by $235 million.”
The bill relocates $235 million to federally qualified health centers governed under section 330 of the Public Health Service Act. The funds that have been previously made available to such programs would not be affected during this one year period. There are 13,500 agencies that provide comprehensive women’s care in health centers in rural areas, Rep. Black said.
The restriction in the defunding measure does not apply in cases of rape or incest, or where a physical condition endangers a pregnant woman’s life unless an abortion is performed.
H.R. 3134 also provides that the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture must seek repayment of federal assistance received by Planned Parenthood of American, Inc., or any affiliate or clinic, if it violates the terms of the certification required by this Act.
Breitbart Texas spoke with Elizabeth Graham of Texas Right to Life who said, “Although H.R. 3134 marks a positive step in the right direction, why is this conversation about Planned Parenthood even still rambling endlessly with no end in sight? Elected leaders are tripping over their directionless feet on the way to assure grassroots activists that there is a plan to defund Planned Parenthood. They are inexcusably behind many states, especially Texas, that have enforced budget rules and disqualified abortion providers from participation in women’s health programs.”
The U.S. Senate is being urged to take up the measure.
Elizabeth Graham also told Breitbart Texas, “If watching the recent footage of chopped up baby body parts does not drive the U.S. Senate to defund the abortion industry and Planned Parenthood, nothing will, and the time will never come.” She added, “For what exactly are we waiting? Conciliatory discussions with the White House? The next round of slaughter to be captured on video? The next season of public outrage? Because the harvesting of the brains from helpless live babies isn’t barbaric enough?”
As it relates to any threat by President Obama and any threat to close down the government, Graham retorted, “This is our U.S. President—willing to stop public services so that the Planned Parenthood butcher shop can spend my money and your money.” She charged, “He is the one threatening to close the government—a shut-down is his promise to America because the President is that committed to abortion.”
The Texas Right to Life spokeswoman added, “Planned Parenthood should be defunded once and for all, not temporarily. If the feds keep posturing through procedures known as ‘continuing resolutions,’ they are just prolonging the slaughter by continuing the funding.”
The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday also passed a bill that would protect babies born alive during an abortion by making it a federal crime to kill the baby after it is born, either by an overt act, or through gross negligence. Breitbart Texas reported, H.R. 3504 passed by an even larger margin than H.R. 3134 – 248 to 177. Five Democrats joined all Republican members to vote in favor of the measure. The bill, entitled the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act was introduced by Congressman Trent Franks.
This article has been updated.
Lana Shadwick is a contributing writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as a prosecutor and an associate judge in Texas. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2
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