Planned Parenthood is safe – at least for today – after Senate Democrats just defeated a Republican bill to defund it.
In almost a strict party-line vote, Senate Democrats this afternoon defeated a Republican bill to defund Planned Parenthood. The final tally was 53-46. Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Joe Donnelly of Indiana voted for the bill, and Republican Mark Kirk of Illinois voted against it. 60 votes were needed for passage.
The original sponsor of the bill was freshman senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who first made national headlines during her campaign by discussing that she knows how to castrate pigs.
The bill was pushed forward after several weeks of right wing lies surrounding several likely-illegally recorded videos by an anti-abortion group that falsely claims Planned Parenthood is profiting from the sale of parts of aborted fetuses.
“The full, unedited videos do not show any illegal activity by Planned Parenthood,” the Huffington Post reports today. “The doctors say repeatedly in the footage that Planned Parenthood affiliates are not trying to profit off of donating fetal parts, but trying to recoup the small costs of preserving and transporting tissue for donation.”
Indiana’s Gov. Mike Pence launched an investigation into Planned Parenthood, which concluded that there were no violations.
Planned Parenthood is by far the largest provider of women’s medical healthcare in the U.S., serving 3 million women annually.
Studies show that defunding the organization would lead to an increase in abortions, about 345,000 more annually.
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