SOURCE:
LIFE NEWSURL:
http://www.lifenews.com/2017/05/04/house-passes-bill-to-defund-planned-parenthood-abortion-biz/ STEVEN ERTELT MAY 4, 2017 | 2:19PM WASHINGTON, DC
House Republicans voted today to approve a bill that would defund to Planned Parenthood abortion business.
This was the second attempt to get enough votes on the reconciliation bill that would not only defund the nation’s biggest abortion corporation but also repeal major portions of Obamacare. The first attempt to pass the bill saw liberal Republicans oppose the repealing Obamacare portion and conservative Republicans not happy as well because it did not repeal Obamacare fully. Republican leaders reworked the legislation, called the American Health Care Act, and Republicans passed the measure today despite Democrat objections.
The House voted 217-212 for the bill to defund Panned Parenthood with Republicans voting 217-20 for it and Democrats voting 192-0 against it. The legislation now moves to the Senate for consideration.
The pro-life bill would eliminate more than $390 million (over 86%) of over $450 million in annual federal funding to Planned Parenthood, from all mandatory spending programs. The measure also redirects funding to community health centers which outnumber Planned Parenthood facilities 20 to 1 and offer a wider array of health care services, but not abortion. AHCA also repeals Obamacare abortion subsidies, adds reforms to give states more flexibility and lower costs, and provides families more options.
The bill would close the largest pipeline for federal funding of Planned Parenthood, Medicaid, and it applies as well to the CHIP and the Title V and Title XX block grant programs.
Importantly, the bill ensures Obamacare will not fund abortions. National Right to Life explains:
“As enacted, the PPACA contains multiple provisions authorizing federal subsidies for abortion, and abortion-expanding regulatory mandates. A 2014 GAO report revealed that over 1,000 federally subsidized plans nationwide were covering elective abortion. The American Health Care Act would repeal the provisions of law that created this system, and prohibit any future federal tax credits from subsidizing the purchase of plans that cover elective abortion, thereby restoring the longstanding principles of the Hyde Amendment with respect to federally funded health coverage.”
“National Right to Life praises the Republican leadership for putting this bill together and making sure the most vulnerable members of our society are protected,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “Over two million Americans are alive today because of the Hyde Amendment. This new health care bill ensures that we are one step closer to getting the federal government entirely out of the business of subsidizing abortion.”
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins told LifeNews he is delighted by the vote.
“Today is a day that should and will be remembered. The House GOP today fulfilled its nearly decade old promise to pass a bill that replaces Obamacare with a law that is pro-life and reduces premium costs for the American people,” he said. “We are proud of the House Freedom Caucus for working diligently in coalition with conservative groups and others to make this day possible. After entrusting the GOP with authority to lead the country based upon their campaign promises, the House GOP has made good on turning promises into policy. Now it is time for the Senate to follow in the House’s footsteps and pass the AHCA, so that this vital legislation can be signed into law by President Trump who understands the value of every person, born and unborn.”
“As a nation, we are without excuse in paying for abortion on demand in Obamacare and subsidizing Planned Parenthood’s gruesome trafficking of baby body parts and its inhumane treatment of mothers and their unborn children,” Perkins continued. “I look forward to even more pro-life gains under the Trump administration, as we continue to move toward once again being a nation where all human life is welcomed into the world and protected under our laws.”
Meanwhile, Family Research Council officials told LifeNews.com that they are also supportive of the defunding Planned Parenthood measure.
Family Research Council (FRC) announced it will score in favor of the American Health Care Act of 2017 (AHCA) which may come up for a vote as soon as this week in the House of Representatives. This is the first time FRC has announced a plan to score a health care related bill in the new Congress.
AHCA, for one year, would eliminate more than $390 million (over 86%) of over $450 million in annual federal funding to Planned Parenthood, from all mandatory spending programs. This is identical to the provision that was ruled to comply with the Senate’s Byrd Rule in 2015. AHCA also redirects funding to community health centers which outnumber Planned Parenthood facilities 20 to 1 and offer a wider array of health care services, but not abortion.
Family Research Council president Tony Perkins released the following statement:
“Family Research Council will score in favor of the American Health Care Act of 2017 because it provides the best path forward to re-establish the fundamental federal policy that abortion is not health care, to redirect funding away from Planned Parenthood, and to provide American families improved health insurance options.
“It’s time that Republican Members of Congress show they are serious about uprooting one of the many egregious policies of the Obama years. After entrusting the GOP with authority to lead the country based upon their campaign promises, now is the time to transform those promises into policy. The American people are depending on Congress to save them from the ill-effects of Obamacare.
“We applaud the conservative Members of Congress that have been working to ensure the replace portion of the repeal bill is both pro-life and pro-family. The measure not only reapplies to federal health care law the principle contained in the Hyde Amendment that abortion is not health care and should not be subsidized but it also contains significant steps to reduce healthcare premiums.
“AHCA repeals the Obamacare premium tax credits, which subsidize abortion on demand. AHCA would also eliminate the Obamacare employer and individual mandate penalties, thereby allowing employers or individuals to forgo offering or purchasing coverage if doing so violates their conscience. AHCA’s Obamacare replacement components include pro-life funding restrictions regarding tax credits, the Patient and State Stability Fund, and the Federal Invisible Risk Sharing Program.
“We believe that AHCA’s abortion funding restrictions are budgetary and should therefore survive any Byrd Rule point of order in the Senate. If, in the unfortunate circumstance the Senate Parliamentarian were to rule that these pro-life protections violate the Byrd Rule, we will not support the bill.
“Family Research Council urges the House of Representatives to approve the American Health Care Act and intends to score in support,”
concluded Perkins.
The previous defunding legislation enjoyed the support of pro-life groups like the Susan B. Anthony List and National Right to Life for defunding Planned Parenthood and closing abortion-funding loopholes in Obamacare.
As LifeNews.com reported, President Donald Trump made an offer to the Planned Parenthood abortion company that it would not only keep its funding but would increase its taxcpayer funding if it would stop killing babies in abortions and focus on legitimate non-abortion healthcare. But Planned Parenthood said no.
A recent survey found that community health centers not only provide more comprehensive health care than Planned Parenthood, excluding abortions, they also outnumber the abortion group’s facilities by 20 to one.
President Donald Trump promised to sign a bill that would defund the Planned Parenthood abortion business.
Recent polls also indicate Americans support the defunding efforts. New polling found 56 percent of Americans in battleground states want Planned Parenthood defunded.
