WASHINGTON, D.C. – September 18, 2015 (Gephardt Daily) – The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Friday that would end federal funding for Planned Parenthood for a period of one year.
The 241-187 vote, largely along party lines, was designed to placate conservative House Republicans who are threatening a government shutdown unless Planned Parenthood is defunded.
Congress and the Senate now have just five days to pass a spending bill to keep the government operating.
The conservative Republican outrage is in reaction to the release of videos by an anti-abortion group purportedly showing Planned Parenthood staffers violating federal law by negotiating the sale of fetal tissues harvested during abortions.
Planned Parenthood denies any wrongdoing and says the tapes have been heavily edited.
The Planned Parenthood de-funding bill was one of two anti-abortion measures passed Friday on Capitol Hill. The second, known as the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, would criminally punish medical personnel who fail to administer aid to infants born alive after attempted abortions.
It appears unlikely either measure will ever become law as Republicans lack the votes in the Senate needed to override a presidential veto.
All four members of Utah’s congressional delegation voted for the anti-abortion measures.
