Lakhota
Diamond Member
By Laura Bassett
Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) released a labor, health and education spending bill on Tuesday that would defund Planned Parenthood and Title X, block the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, allow any employer to deny women birth control coverage under the ACA for "moral reasons" and increase spending for abstinence-only education.
Specifically, the bill prevents federal dollars from flowing to Planned Parenthood clinics until the family planning provider can certify that it no longer offers abortions, even though Planned Parenthood only uses federal money for non-abortion services.
The legislation also states that none of its funds can be used to carry out the Title X family planning program or be used to "implement, administer, enforce, or further the provisions" of the Affordable Care Act.
The bill scraps the provision in Obamacare that requires insurance plans to cover birth control and other preventative health services, allowing any issuer or sponsor of a group health insurance plan to refuse to cover any health care service "on the basis of religious beliefs or moral convictions." It also increases restrictions on educating abortion physicians beyond current law and allocates $20 million for "competitive grants to provide abstinence education to adolescents."
More: GOP Spending Bill Aims To Defund Planned Parenthood, Up Abstinence-Only Funds (UPDATE)