Democrats Defeat Senate Effort to De-Fund Planned Parenthood After It Sells Aborted Babies

By Steven Ertelt Via Life News

Senate Democrats today defeated an effort to revoke taxpayer funding for the Planned Parenthood abortion business by filibustering the bill and preventing a vote on it. Republicans were unable to secure the 60 voted needed to invoke cloture and stop debate on the bill, allowing an up or down vote.

The legislation follows four shocking videos that have caught Planned Parenthood doctors discussing and arranging the sale of body parts of aborted babies.

The Senate voted 53-46 on the cloture motion — failing to get the 60 votes needed to stop the Democratic filibuster against the de-funding measure. had the cloture vote been approved and the bill passed, and should the House pass its own bill to de-fund Planned Parenthood, President Barack Obama said he would veto the measure. The vote was an improvement over a 2011 vote that saw the vote on the filibuster fail and technically the Senate is 5 votes away from overcoming a Democratic filibuster.

How did your members vote? Scroll to bottom for listing.

Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine voted to allow a vote on de-funding Planned Parenthood but indicated she would vote no on the de-funding bill itself. Pro-abortion Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted for cloture as well along with Democrats Donnelly of Indiana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

Republican Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois was the only Republican to vote against the de-funding effort while pro-life Senator Lindsey Graham, who supports de-funding Planned Parenthood, missed the vote to campaign for president.

With the Senate voting against de-funding, attention now turns to attempts to de-fund Planned Parenthood via the budget process. Already, 18 House Republicans have said they will not allow passage of any essential bills to fund the federal government if such bills do not include language de-funding Planned Parenthood.

Attention will also now turn to Congressional and state efforts to investigate Planned Parenthood’s sale of body parts from aborted babies and state-level efforts to de-fund Planned Parenthood further.

SIGN THE PETITION! Congress Must Investigate Planned Parenthood for Selling Aborted Baby Parts

During the debate in the Senate, Republican lawmakers sought to highlight those shocking videos showing Planned Parenthood arranging for the sale of aborted babies.

Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa said, “The American taxpayer should not be asked to fund an organization like Planned Parenthood that has shown a sheer disdain for human dignity and complete disregard for women and their babies.”

“The barbaric practice of conducting abortions in a way that promotes harvesting fetal organs, or profiting from such practices, has no place in modern society,” said Sen. Dan Coats of Indiana. “Planned Parenthood’s disgusting practices should not receive a dime of taxpayer money.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Democrats should not protect Planned Parenthood’s federal funds “just to protect some political group. “Women deserve better, and our country deserves better.”

Democrats countered that de-funding Planned Parenthood would somehow hurt women’s health, even though the measure would merely redirect federal funds to medical clinics that provide women’s health care but not abortions.

“Women have lived through a world where backward-looking ideologues tried to interfere” with their health decisions, said pro-abortion Sen. Elizabeth Warren, “and we are not going back.”

Not only does the bill de-fund Planned Parenthood, it takes the taxpayer dollars that had been slated for the abortion business and sends them to legitimate women’s health care. The bills transfers funding from Planned Parenthood and sends it to agencies that provides for women’s health services including relevant diagnostic laboratory and radiology services, well-child care, prenatal and postpartum care, immunization, family planning services including contraception, sexually transmitted disease testing, cervical and breast cancer screenings, and referrals.

The bill cites state and local health departments, federally backed community health centers and other providers of health services to women who might get the money instead of Planned Parenthood. In fact, there are over 9,000 non-abortion health centers that provide the same or better women’s health care services as Planned Parenthood:

Leading pro-life groups like National Right to Life are strongly supporting the de-funding bill.

“Senator Ernst’s bill would push the snout of Planned Parenthood, a bloated abortion mega-marketer and a fetal organ trafficker, out of the U.S. Treasury feeding trough,” said Douglas Johnson, legislative director for National Right to Life.

The bill states, “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no Federal funds may be made available to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, or to any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, successors, or clinics.”

Johnson told LifeNews.com that the bill also contains language to provide that “all funds no longer available to Planned Parenthood will continue to be made available to other eligible entities to provide women’s health care services.” In other words, any funds removed from Planned Parenthood would be reallocated to women’s health services provided by others (but such funds cannot be used for elective abortions).

PPFA is the nation’s largest provider of abortions – about one-third of all abortions in the U.S. are performed at PPFA-affiliated facilities. PPFA also receives at least $528 million annually from the federal government or other levels of government, he explained.

As LifeNews reported, the first video of undercover footage shows Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s Senior Director of Medical Services, Dr. Deborah Nucatola, describing how Planned Parenthood sells the body parts of aborted unborn children and admitting she uses partial-birth abortions to supply intact body parts.

In the second video, Planned Parenthood doctor Maru Gatter discusses the pricing of aborted baby body parts — telling the biotech company officials that the prices for such things as a baby’s liver, head or heart are negotiable. She also tells the officials that she could talk with the Planned Parenthood abortion practitioners to potentially alter the abortion procedure to kill the baby in a way that would best preserve those body parts after the unborn child is killed in the abortion.

A total of 12 states have already launched an investigation including South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Kansas, Missouri, Arizona, Indiana, Ohio, Georgia, Texas and Louisiana and members of Congress have launched an investigation as well.

HOW DID YOUR SENATORS VOTE ON DE-FUNDING PLANNED PARENTHOOD?

Here is how lawmakers voted today on the filibuster against the bill to de-fund Planned Parenthood. A Yea vote is for de-funding Planned Parenthood and a No vote is a pro-abortion vote.

Note: 1) Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is pro-life and supports de-funding Planned Parenthood. As the party leader traditionally does to bring up votes when the minority succeeds in filibustering a bill or amendment, voted no so he can bring the de-funding measure up for a vote again. 2) Senator Susan Collins voted to end the filibuster, but she is pro-abortion and said she would vote against the de-funding bill.

Alphabetical by Senator Name

Alexander (R-TN), YeaAyotte (R-NH), YeaBaldwin (D-WI), Nay

Barrasso (R-WY), Yea

Bennet (D-CO), Nay

Blumenthal (D-CT), Nay

Blunt (R-MO), Yea

Booker (D-NJ), Nay

Boozman (R-AR), Yea

Boxer (D-CA), Nay

Brown (D-OH), Nay

Burr (R-NC), Yea

Cantwell (D-WA), Nay

Capito (R-WV), Yea

Cardin (D-MD), Nay

Carper (D-DE), Nay

Casey (D-PA), Nay

Cassidy (R-LA), Yea

Coats (R-IN), Yea

Cochran (R-MS), Yea

Collins (R-ME), Yea

Coons (D-DE), Nay

Corker (R-TN), Yea

Cornyn (R-TX), Yea

Cotton (R-AR), Yea

Crapo (R-ID), Yea

Cruz (R-TX), Yea

Daines (R-MT), Yea

Donnelly (D-IN), Yea

Durbin (D-IL), Nay

Enzi (R-WY), Yea

Ernst (R-IA), Yea

Feinstein (D-CA), Nay

Fischer (R-NE), Yea
Flake (R-AZ), YeaFranken (D-MN), NayGardner (R-CO), Yea

Gillibrand (D-NY), Nay

Graham (R-SC), Not Voting

Grassley (R-IA), Yea

Hatch (R-UT), Yea

Heinrich (D-NM), Nay

Heitkamp (D-ND), Nay

Heller (R-NV), Yea

Hirono (D-HI), Nay

Hoeven (R-ND), Yea

Inhofe (R-OK), Yea

Isakson (R-GA), Yea

Johnson (R-WI), Yea

Kaine (D-VA), Nay

King (I-ME), Nay

Kirk (R-IL), Nay

Klobuchar (D-MN), Nay

Lankford (R-OK), Yea

Leahy (D-VT), Nay

Lee (R-UT), Yea

Manchin (D-WV), Yea

Markey (D-MA), Nay

McCain (R-AZ), Yea

McCaskill (D-MO), Nay

McConnell (R-KY), Nay

Menendez (D-NJ), Nay

Merkley (D-OR), Nay

Mikulski (D-MD), Nay

Moran (R-KS), Yea

Murkowski (R-AK), Yea

Murphy (D-CT), Nay

Murray (D-WA), Nay
Nelson (D-FL), NayPaul (R-KY), YeaPerdue (R-GA), Yea

Peters (D-MI), Nay

Portman (R-OH), Yea

Reed (D-RI), Nay

Reid (D-NV), Nay

Risch (R-ID), Yea

Roberts (R-KS), Yea

Rounds (R-SD), Yea

Rubio (R-FL), Yea

Sanders (I-VT), Nay

Sasse (R-NE), Yea

Schatz (D-HI), Nay

Schumer (D-NY), Nay

Scott (R-SC), Yea

Sessions (R-AL), Yea

Shaheen (D-NH), Nay

Shelby (R-AL), Yea

Stabenow (D-MI), Nay

Sullivan (R-AK), Yea

Tester (D-MT), Nay

Thune (R-SD), Yea

Tillis (R-NC), Yea

Toomey (R-PA), Yea

Udall (D-NM), Nay

Vitter (R-LA), Yea

Warner (D-VA), Nay

Warren (D-MA), Nay

Whitehouse (D-RI), Nay

Wicker (R-MS), Yea

Wyden (D-OR), Nay

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