— The Republican-led House on Friday approved an amendment to a massive
spending bill that would prohibit federal funding for Planned
Parenthood.
The measure offered by Rep.
was approved 240-185, with several Democrats joining Republicans in
support. The organization would be prohibited from receiving federal
funds for any of its activities. It is already banned from using
federal funds to perform most abortions. This will affect around 62 centers in Colorado.
“While the outcome of this vote is not a surprise, it is out of line with what voters want Congress to focus on,” said Vicki Cowart, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains. “For 95 years, Planned Parenthood has provided medical care and family planning services to women across the country. One in five American women has received care from a Planned Parenthood health center during her lifetime, and last year three million patients came to one of our more than 800 health centers. It is difficult to understand why people who say they are opposed to abortion would do so much to undermine the family planning and contraception that helps prevent the need for it.”
The House continues making its way through hundreds of amendments to a spending bill to fund the government through
Pence has made himself the leader of a coordinated
effort to defund Planned Parenthood, which is the nation’s largest
provider of abortions and a longtime target of abortion foes.
The congressman has introduced legislation that
would deprive the organization of funding used for contraception,
cancer screenings and health services for low-income patients. His
amendment went a step further by depriving the organization — and each
of its local affiliates — of all federal funds. Planned Parenthood
receives funding from federal, state and local government grants.
———
(c) 2011, Tribune Co.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Additional reporting from Boulder Weekly staff.
