House blocks federal aid for Planned Parenthood

[demmiblue]

Source: AP


WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has approved a Republican proposal to block federal aid for Planned Parenthood.

The 240-185 vote on Friday is a victory for anti-abortion forces led by Indiana GOP Rep. Mike Pence. He says taxpayer money should not go to groups that provide or promote abortion.

Democrats say Planned Parenthood provides contraception and other valuable family planning services, and that cutting off the money will make it hard for women to get such basic help.

Planned Parenthood provides services in hundreds of clinics around the country. Pence aides say the group reported receiving $363 million in federal money in its latest report.



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gcFXy2CvM5CPe-t-QcPcaLBZkwBA?docId=184481f9479c46b0af7e7d37a47d65cd

[Make7]

1. I didn't know that the House could unilaterally do such a thing. ( n/t )

[MineralMan]

4. They can't, actually. They can pass a bill with this in it, but

it has to make it through the Senate and the President. It can be killed by either, and they don't have the votes to override a veto. The only risk is a government shutdown, but that's a real possibility. Somewhere, the Republicans have a turnback point. Where it is I don't know yet.

[FBaggins]

12. Sorry... that's wrong.

Nothing has to pass the Senate.

PP is funded in each year's budget and there's no continuing legal obligation. It can be killed by just not putting it in. The Senate and President don't have to agree. can't add the funding without the House agreeing.


Though yes, it could end in a shutdown... but I doubt this piece will be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

[MineralMan]

14. True, but in this case, specific language is included in the bill that

blocks federal funds going to any organization that performs abortions. That's not the same as simply leaving out the appropriation. I'm writing only about this specific thing.

[FBaggins]

16. Got it. Thanks.

n/t

[WolfoftheWild]

6. It still has to pass the Senate

The House just passed an amendment to the Budget Bill.

It's kind of disingenuous for the media to report this as a done deal.

[Control-Z]

37. That is my understanding.

From the Los Angeles Times:

"The House continues making its way through hundreds of amendments to a spending bill to fund the government through Sept. 30. The bill makes more than $60 billion in cuts for the remaining seven months of the fiscal year, but is unlikely to be supported by the Democratic-controlled Senate. Failure to pass a bill when the current spending plan expires on March 4 could lead to a federal government shutdown."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-pn-planned-parenthood-20110219,0,203573.story

[ProgressiveProfessor]

7. They can...if the funds are not appropriated in the combined budget bill, then there

would be no Federal funding for Planned Parenthood from the Feds in that fiscal year.

You are aware that the Federal Government is operating under Continuing resolution funding?

[Make7]

20. The text of the amendment:

 

AMENDMENT NO. 11 OFFERED BY MR. PENCE

Mr. PENCE. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.

The text of the amendment is as follows:

At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the following:

Sec. __. None of the funds made available by this Act may be made available for any purpose to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. or any of the following affiliates of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc.:

(1) Planned Parenthood Southeast in Atlanta, Georgia.

(2) Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest in Seattle, Washington.

(3) Planned Parenthood Arizona in Phoenix, Arizona.

(4) Planned Parenthood of Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

(5) Planned Parenthood of Greater Memphis Region in Memphis, Tennessee.

(6) Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California in Sacramento, California.

(7) Planned Parenthood Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California.

(8) Planned Parenthood Mar Monte in San Jose, California.

(9) Planned Parenthood of Orange & San Bernardino Counties, Inc. in Orange, California.

(10) Planned Parenthood Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley, Inc. in Pasadena, California.

(11) Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest in San Diego, California.

(12) Planned Parenthood of Santa Barbara, Ventura & San Luis Obispo Counties in Santa Barbara, California.

(13) Planned Parenthood: Shasta-Diablo in Concord, California.

(14) Six Rivers Planned Parenthood in Eureka, California.

(15) Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains in Denver, Colorado.

(16) Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, Inc. in New Haven, Connecticut.

(17) Planned Parenthood of Delaware in Wilmington, Delaware.

(18) Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Inc. in Washington, District of Columbia.

(19) Florida Association of Planned Parenthood Affiliates in Sarasota, Florida.

(20) Planned Parenthood of Collier County in Naples, Florida.

(21) Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando, Inc. in Orlando, Florida.

(22) Planned Parenthood of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida.

(23) Planned Parenthood of South Florida and the Treasure Coast, Inc. in West Palm Beach, Florida.

(24) Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, Inc. in Sarasota, Florida.

(25) Planned Parenthood of Hawaii in Honolulu, Hawaii.

(26) Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho in Yakima, Washington.

(27) Planned Parenthood of Illinois in Chicago, Illinois.

(28) Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region in St. Louis, Missouri.

(29) Planned Parenthood of Indiana, Inc. in Indianapolis, Indiana.

(30) Iowa Planned Parenthood Affiliate League in Des Moines, Iowa.

(31) Planned Parenthood of East Central Iowa in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

(32) Planned Parenthood of the Heartland in Des Moines, Iowa.

(33) Planned Parenthood of Southeast Iowa in Burlington, Iowa.

(34) Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri in Overland Park, Kansas.

(35) Planned Parenthood of Kentucky, Inc. in Louisville, Kentucky.

(36) Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region in Cincinnati, Ohio.

(37) Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, Inc. in Houston, Texas.

(38) Planned Parenthood of Northern New England in Williston, Vermont.

(39) Planned Parenthood of Maryland, Inc. in Baltimore, Maryland.

(40) Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts in Boston, Massachusetts.

(41) Planned Parenthood Affiliates of Michigan in Lansing, Michigan.

(42) Planned Parenthood of West and Northern Michigan in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

(43) Planned Parenthood Mid and South Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

(44) Planned Parenthood of South Central Michigan in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

(45) Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota in St. Paul, Minnesota.

(46) Planned Parenthood of Southwest Missouri in St. Louis, Missouri.

(47) Tri-Rivers Planned Parenthood in Rolla, Missouri.

(48) Planned Parenthood of Montana, Inc. in Billings, Montana.

(49) Planned Parenthood of the Heartland in Omaha, Nebraska.

(50) Planned Parenthood Affiliates of New Jersey in Trenton, New Jersey.

(51) Planned Parenthood Association of the Mercer Area in Trenton, New Jersey.

(52) Planned Parenthood of Central New Jersey in Shrewsbury, New Jersey.

(53) Planned Parenthood of Greater Northern New Jersey, Inc. in Morristown, New Jersey.

(54) Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey in Newark, New Jersey.

(55) Planned Parenthood of Southern New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey.

(56) Planned Parenthood of New Mexico, Inc. in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

(57) Family Planning Advocates of New York State in Albany, New York.

(58) Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic, Inc. in Hawthorne, New York.

(59) Planned Parenthood Mohawk Hudson in Utica, New York.

(60) Planned Parenthood of Mid-Hudson Valley, Inc. in Poughkeepsie, New York.

(61) Planned Parenthood of Nassau County, Inc. in Hempstead, New York.

(62) Planned Parenthood of New York City, Inc. in New York, New York.

(63) Planned Parenthood of the North Country New York, Inc. in Watertown, New York.

(64) Planned Parenthood of South Central New York, Inc. in Oneonta, New York.

(65) Planned Parenthood of the Rochester/Syracuse Region in Rochester, New York.

(66) Planned Parenthood of the Southern Finger Lakes in Ithaca, New York.

(67) Planned Parenthood of Western New York, Inc. in Buffalo, New York.

(68) Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood, Inc. in Albany, New York.

(69) Planned Parenthood Health Systems, Inc. in Raleigh, North Carolina.

(70) Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

(71) Planned Parenthood Affiliates of Ohio in Columbus, Ohio.

(72) Planned Parenthood of Central Ohio, Inc. in Columbus, Ohio.

(73) Planned Parenthood of Northeast Ohio in Akron, Ohio.

(74) Planned Parenthood of Northwest Ohio in Toledo, Ohio.

(75) Planned Parenthood of Southeast Ohio in Athens, Ohio.

(76) Planned Parenthood of Central Oklahoma, Inc. in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

(77) Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon.

(78) Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon in Eugene, Oregon.

(79) Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette in Portland, Oregon.

(80) Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

(81) Planned Parenthood Association of Bucks County in Warminster, Pennsylvania.

(82) Planned Parenthood of Central Pennsylvania, Inc. in York, Pennsylvania.

(83) Planned Parenthood of Northeast and Mid-Penn in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania.

(84) Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

(85) Planned Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

(86) Planned Parenthood of Middle and East Tennessee, Inc. in Nashville, Tennessee.

(87) Texas Association of Planned Parenthood Affiliates in Austin, Texas.

(88) Planned Parenthood Association of Cameron & Willacy Counties, Inc. in Brownsville, Texas.

(89) Planned Parenthood Association of Hidalgo County, Inc. in McAllen, Texas.

(90) Planned Parenthood Association of Lubbock, Inc. in Lubbock, Texas.

(91) Planned Parenthood of Central Texas, Inc. in Waco, Texas.

(92) Planned Parenthood of North Texas, Inc. in Dallas, Texas.

(93) Planned Parenthood of the Texas Capital Region in Austin, Texas.

(94) Planned Parenthood of West Texas, Inc. in Odessa, Texas.

(95) Planned Parenthood Trust of San Antonio and South Central Texas in San Antonio, Texas.

(96) Planned Parenthood Association of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah.

(97) Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.

(98) Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Virginia, Inc. in Hampton, Virginia.

(99) Virginia League for Planned Parenthood in Richmond, Virginia.

(100) Planned Parenthood Public Policy Network of Washington in Seattle, Washington.

(101) Mt. Baker Planned Parenthood in Bellingham, Washington.

(102) Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, Inc. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.


http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?r112:1:./temp/~r112WwuyJX:e855769:

[FBaggins]

8. They can if they insist on it...

...but they may back down over other conflicts.

There is no permanent funding for PP. So they don't need to pass a law removing future funding. All spending bills begin in the House so if they don't put in a line for PP, it won't get funded. What they've done (I think) is pass an internal rule that the House budget will not include such a line - so when the budget gets broken up into the various committees, those committees don't have an option and the final (House) budget will not have the funding.

The problem for them comes when the Senate sends back their version of the budget and PP is in there. Will they shut down the government to win that fight? I doubt it... but I'm not sure that the Senate will force the issue.

[EFerrari]

2. For something like 70% of the women who use PP

that's the only doctor they see all year.

Good job, Republican sociopaths.

[keepCAblue]

28. PP is the only affordable health care for me in San Jose...

They don't just treat women -- they treat men, women and children who are uninsured or under-insured on a sliding scale. Cutting PP off from fed funding will hurt millions of Americans who rely on PP for their basic medical care. This will also cut PP's funding for HIV tests, cancer screenings, birth control, and more, putting millions of women and families at risk.

I stand with Planned Parenthood. Please sign their petition and ask your friends to do so as well.

https://secure.ppaction.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=pp_ppol_ws_I_Stand_with_PP

[EFerrari]

35. Thanks, I had no idea. n/t

[Judi Lynn]

42. Thanks for posting the petition. n/t

[No Elephants]

30. Some states have NO doc who performs abortions unless PP flies one in.

South Dakota is one.

(The above is per a Maddow guest.)

[peace13]

3. This is such and up hill battle!

I wonder how much of their funding comes from private sources? It makes my blood boil when they equate PP with being an abortion mill. So much good medicine happens for the women of this country. Accessibility, and understanding. I say, cut off all benefits to these clowns in DC and they will begin to see what services are needed out here. I feel so sorry for the young women in this country. I lay my dollars down at PP and hope that everyone who can will send some their way as well. Thanks for this. Kim

[snappyturtle]

19. Well, I am not surprised....look what happened to Acorn? nt

[No Elephants]

31. For me, ACORN was worse because Dems controlled both houses and the Oval Office--and

the bill passed and signed by Dems, including the constitutional law professor (and community organizer) in chief, was unconstitutional.

[snappyturtle]

36. Yes, you're right....I just couldn't help but think of Acorn when I learned about

the latest assault on Planned Parenthood.

[Curmudgeoness]

5. If this passes in the Senate too, it will be a major blow.

When I was young and working for peanuts, the only place I could afford to go for gynological exams and contraception was Planned Parenthood because they had a sliding scale for payment depending on your income.

I continued to go to the clinics long after I had the money to pay for an office exam because at that point, I was paying at the top of the scale and that helped them continue to do the great work they were doing.

I believe that the horse's asses who want to destroy PP have no idea what services they will be cutting. It is so much more than abortion, and in some places, abortion is not being done through them at all (or it was not in some states a few years ago).

[ProgressiveProfessor]

9. It will end up in a combined budget committee

That is were the horse trades are made to reach a combined budget deal.

Right now the Federal Government is operating on CRA funding, there is not FY11 budget in place.

[Curmudgeoness]

18. Help me here, what is CRA funding? It is amazing

that we are over halfway through the second quarter that the budget would cover, and still don't have a budget. I guess if we wait long enough, we could have a much more accurate budget based on real numbers.

If this ends up in the budget committee, and we all know how they hide things that they chop and things that they fund, this could still be a loss of funding for a vital program. Regardless of what all the Reps say, PP provides a great service for so many women.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

22. Here are some links

What is CRA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuing_resolution


Current Fed Budget Status:

http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/appropriations/132777-house-passes-11-trillion-continuing-resolution

http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/01/26/house-presses-forward-with-early-continuing-resolution/



FY11 Presidents Budget: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2011/assets/budget.pdf

[Vinnie From Indy]

10. Pence is an evil douchebag

One wonders how many female representatives voted for this in the House.

[Justitia]

11. I just called Culberson's office - his staff was VERY HOSTILE

A woman answered and I was very polite. A few minutes into the call I said I didn't understand how she, being a woman herself, could support such anti-woman legislation.

SHE EXPLODED.

Guess they are all woman haters there - even the women.

I told her that I would be working towards his defeat as anti-woman legislator.

Her voice was shaking with rage.

But, she took all my info and said she would pass along the msg.

I can only guess what she is going to do with all my personal information.

[savalez]

15. Friggen ay that's how you do it. Good job!

And don't worry about giving them your info.

[pfitz59]

24. she must believe in original sin!

was she a fundie wallowing in "the curse of Eve"? plenty of women vote against their self-interest becuse they have been so dehumanized and subordinated by a Patriarchal political and religious doctrine!

[Justitia]

27. it must have hit a nerve with her, to be considered as aiding anti-woman legislation

but, obviously not enough to examine her conscience

[SoapBox]

13. Perverts and sickos...that is what these RushThugs and T.HaterBaggers are...

Wake up women of America.

[Solly Mack]

17. K&R

[LittleGirl]

21. I just want to scream! NOOOOOO

What the hell is wrong with these people? When I was young and working for minimum wage, I went to PP for my contraception. Do you really think I could afford that working 15 hrs a week and going to school full time? I had already left home and they gave me everything I needed.

The GOP really piss me off and to know that Mike Pence of Indiana started this bill makes my blood boil. Hoosier here.

Everyday, this type of news is making me not only want to leave my place of birth, but frankly, I'm ready to head to Europe or Australia and denounce my citizenship. In other news this week, IN passed a law forbidding same-sex marriage and next up is immigration just like AZ. I'm fed up with these bible thumping women hating fuckers.

/rant over

[Ian David]

23. If Scott Brown had gotten pregnant when he was molested, my call to him wouldn't have been wasted.nt

[Ian David]

25. Planned Parenthood Defunding Amendment Passes House, Mostly Along Partisan Lines

Planned Parenthood Defunding Amendment Passes House, Mostly Along Partisan Lines
Posted Friday, February 18, 2011 2:51 PM | By David Weigel

Two important things to note about the passage of Mike Pence's amendment to the continuing resolution -- the amendment that prohibits funding for Planned Parenthood's family planning activity.

- It was a mostly partisan vote. We don't have the official roll call yet, but the vote was 240-185. There are 241 Republican members of the House and 193 Democrats. So fewer than 10 Democrats voted for the amendment. That represents more than the shrunken size of the pro-life Democratic caucus. It signals that Planned Parenthood has not bled Democratic support since the new campaign against it began in mid-January, with Live Action's undercover sting videos. Compare that to the 2009 vote to defund ACORN, when a majority of the 255 Democrats -- 172 members -- fled from the ACORN scandal like Wisconsin legislators and voted to strip funding.

- This doesn't auger well for the defunding amendment's survival in the Senate. There are 53 Democrats in the Senate. Only three of them voted with Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., when he tried to attach an abortion funding ban to the Affordable Care Act. Two of the Senate's Republicans, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, voted to table Nelson's amendment. At the moment there aren't enough votes to get a Planned Parenthood funding ban through the Senate.

More:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/weigel/archive/2011/02/18/planned-parenthood-defunding-amendment-passes-house-mostly-along-partisan-lines.aspx

[Vogon_Glory]

26. Not AntiAbortion, Anti-Birth Control

I have watched with dismay for the last two decades as those of us in the reproductive rights struggle have allowed so-called "pro-life" zealots to make fools of us with our co-operation. Instead of talking about reproductive rights as a whole and reminding active voters and interested citizens that the Radical right was not only against abortion, but all birth control, pro-choice activists foolishly let right-wing extremists corral us into a "pro-abortion" ghetto.

This vote wasn't about abortion. It was about ALL birth control. It was about denying poor women access to birth control. it was about denying poor women access to pap smears and breast exams. It was yet another attack on the battered social safety nets by right-wing reactionaries intent on replacing public health care with yet more Reactionary Right "I-Don't-Care."

If our Democratic Party was brave instead of timid and smart instead of clueless, we'd label the Republican Party for what it is--anti-birth-control, and anti-women's health.

:grr:

[Betty]

38. If they don't want women having abortions

then what the hell are they doing preventing access to birth control? It just proves that it's not abortion they hate, it's women who have sex without procreating. These sick assholes look at pregnancy as the proper punishment for uppity women who want to have sex because they enjoy it.

[Vogon_Glory]

43. They Want To Prevent So-Called Promiscuity

The reactionaries who want to shut down Planned Parenthood aren't so much interested in the abortion question as they are in trying to use legislation to enforce THEIR ideas of social morality. The abortion debate, for all its sound, fury, and passion, is only a SMALL part of the social reactionaries' sexual agenda. Their REAL aim is to discourage 'promiscuity,' which they define as ANY sexual contact outside of monogamous, vanilla, CHRISTIAN marriage. They think that if they make access to contraception difficult or impossible, and use the risks of STDs and unwanted pregnancies as consequences, not minor risks as they are now, they can FORCE people to stop having sex.

They're authoritarians. That's how their minds work. That's the message a lot of us involved in the pro-choice movement have been trying to tell people. That's the message that too many complacent voters and clueless and complacent non-voters have ignored.

I really do hope I have your attention.

Personally, I think that by this latest move, the anti-abortion movement is showing itself to be less of a political movement than an intelligent, self-spreading medical epidemic. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who votes for anti-abortion Republicans after this latest move in the House of Representatives is voting to SPREAD sexually-transmitted disease, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer, and unwanted pregnancies.

:argh:

[keepCAblue]

29. Please sign petition: "I stand with Planned Parenthood!"

https://secure.ppaction.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=pp_ppol_ws_I_Stand_with_PP

[slackmaster]

32. If the federal government cuts off funding for Planned Parenthood, I'll take the money...

...that I would have donated to the Red Cross and several other organizations that I usually help every year, and give it all to Planned Parenthood.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[4saken]

34. It's amazing how far they can run..

..on such an unsupportable position like anti-abortion rights. It really feels like they just continuously assume their premise, without considering any critique of the arguments and lines of reasoning they used in gaining conviction for their position. They only seem to have arguments from hindsight(requires being in hindsight, failing to consider other possibilities), potential(with a huge double standard, where 1 second before conception is not considered "life", but 1 second later it is) and religious grounds(with an implied "soul" injector, or other appeals to mythology). Each fail for their own reasons.

[defendandprotect]

39. Grand Old Patriarchy -- seeking to regain control over reproduction ...and women's bodies!!

Notice also that if they succeed, they are strengthening the hand of the Vatican

which lobbies for this influence here -- if the Vatican loses the birth control issue --

they lose on the abortion issue. That's why curtailing birth control is essential for them!

[alp227]

40. and blocks any more progress in creating jobs like Boehner promised

and Obama went to the Bay Area to meet with tech CEOs and has thus made more initiative to reboot the economy than the House Republicans have since the 112th Congress began.

[plumbob]

41. Hmmm. thought Republicans were against the government having

anything to do with my doctor and medical decisions?



Hope Mr. Pence gets everything he deserves.

Soon.