In a 241-187 vote, the House of Representatives voted this afternoon, mostly on party lines with Republicans for and Democrats against, to strip federal funding of Planned Parenthood for a full year. The House also voted 248-177 to pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which threatens doctors with new criminal penalties, up to five years in jail, for providing legal abortion.
“Once again, the Republican majority demonstrated it is hell-bent to restrict abortion rights for women and to scare doctors out of providing this constitutional, necessary and often life-saving procedure for countless women,” exclaimed Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority.
The Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015, sponsored by Rep. Diane Black (R-TN), is the latest in a series of anti-abortion measures introduced by Republican lawmakers to eliminate funding to the nation’s leading reproductive health care provider following the release of several fraudulent videos by the Center for Medical Progress. Despite no evidence that there is any truth to the videos’ claims that Planned Parenthood is illegally selling fetal tissue, Republicans insisted on eliminating funding that enables millions of women, especially low-income women, to access health care.
Given that Planned Parenthood provides quality, affordable reproductive health care to 2.7 million women, men and teens at approximately 700 health centers nationwide, the stakes could not be higher.
Media Resources: U.S. House of Representatives; Feminist Newswire 9/17/15
