The votes followed months of intense focus on Planned Parenthood prompted by undercover videos released by an activist group claiming they show violations of federal laws prohibiting the sales of fetal tissue for profit and restricting certain abortion procedures. Planned Parenthood has denied any wrongdoing and claimed the videos have been unfairly manipulated as it has fought off attempts to end its federal support.
One bill passed Friday, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, would impose criminal penalties on medical personnel who fail to aid an infant born after an attempted abortion. The other, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act, imposes a one-year moratorium on federal funding for the group, which Republicans say will allow for a thorough investigation of its practices. Any funding, supporters said, would be redirected to clinics that do not offer abortions. “Most people think that is common sense,” said Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.), sponsor of the defunding bill. “If there is reason to investigate, then there is reason to withhold taxpayer dollars during that period of time. The American taxpayer has been clear for a very long time that they do not want federal funds spent on abortion.”
Neither bill is likely to become law; Senate Democrats have filibustered similar measures, and President Obama has indicated he would veto both bills. Democrats pointed out that Planned Parenthood has long been prohibited from spending federal money on abortions, thanks to appropriations riders dating back to the 1970s. And in a floor debate Friday, they called the bill an attack on women’s health care and noted that other health-care providers would be unable to absorb all of Planned Parenthood’s hundreds of thousands of patients. “This bill is dumb, it’s foolish, and it’s mean-spirited,” said Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.). “The bill is based upon lies and exaggerations. If you want to have a truthful debate, then let’s talk about the 400,000 Pap smears, the 500,000 breast exams, the 4.5 million STD and HIV tests that Planned Parenthood does each year.”
Planned Parenthood’s affiliated clinics are together the country’s largest provider of abortions. But they also perform other women’s health and family planning services, which are funded through Medicaid and Title X federal grants totaling about $450 million a year. The organization decried the vote Friday. “These bills are a callous attempt to insert politics into women’s health, and we’re grateful that the Senate and the president will stop them from becoming law,” said Eric Ferrero, a spokesman for the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Republicans and Democrats sparred over the undercover videos, which have been released by the Center for Medical Progress over the course of the summer. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) called them part of a “coordinated, broad-based smear campaign full of distortions and misinformation.” Key context was edited out of the videos, she said, including footage of exculpatory comments from Planned Parenthood executives.
MORE
