House Votes to Defund Planned Parenthood
Jim Newell — 
This is not surprising, and yet: The House has passed an amendment to the continuing budget resolution it's finalizing that would block all federal aid to Planned Parenthood. Even though providing abortions is a small part of what Planned Parenthood does—and is isolated from federal funds within the organization's structure, by law—the amendment passed 240-185. So does this mean abortion is over forever?
Keep in mind that's just one House of Congress. The Senate (probably!) won't include this in its version of the continuing resolution. It will have to be worked out during conference negotiations to mesh the two bills together. Democrats wouldn't let something like this slip into its final plan, which will fund the government through September, would they? Or what about this?
It will also eliminate the entire Title X program, which was founded in 1970 and is the only federal grant program dedicated solely to providing individuals with comprehensive family planning and preventive health services, particularly to low-income families, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' Office of Population Affairs. Preventative health services include breast and cervical cancer screenings, HIV prevention education, pregnancy diagnosis and counseling.
Republicans will fight extremely hard to keep their Planned Parenthood/women's health defunding measures in the final legislation. We'll see how long Senate Democrats stick around for the fight, but women's issues tend to get thrown under the bus.
[Image via AP]
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