Congress Votes to Let States Decide on This Issue

The Obama administration issued a rule to effectively prohibit states from blocking funding to clinics that kill unborn babies if such clinics provide “family planning” and preventative services.

In other words, Planned Parenthood.

Lawmakers in the U.S. Senate want to strike down that rule. They passed a bill to overturn it. From Life News (emphasis added):

The Senate voted 50-50 for the bill, with a couple of liberal pro-abortion Republicans joining Democrats in supporting the abortion giant and Republicans voting pro-life. The tie vote made it so pro-life Vice-President Mike Pence cast the tie-breaking vote to approve the measure.
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In recent years, several states receiving Title X family planning grants have opted to direct those funds to county health departments, community health centers, or other types of providers, in preference to organizations engaged in objectionable activities, such as Planned Parenthood, a mega-marketer of abortion that has also been involved in selling aborted baby parts.

H.J. Res. 43, if passed by the Senate and signed by the President, would mean that states, if they chose, could continue to attempt to redirect Title X funds away from objectionable organizations like Planned Parenthood.

Two Republican senators voted against the measure: Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, the same lawmakers who voted against confirming Betsy DeVos as Secretary of the Department of Education. Vice President Pence had to break the tie in that vote as well.

The House overturned the Obama-era rule in February. With the Senate passage, the measure is headed to President Donald Trump’s desk. He’s expected to sign it.

Photo credit: American Life League (Creative Commons) – Some rights reserved