Despite the grisly revelations of the past few weeks, which caught Planned Parenthood employees negotiating the sale of fetal body parts as if they were goods and services, the Senate today voted to keep Planned Parenthood funding "intact" (here's some context behind that word.)
BREAKING: Senate bill to defund Planned Parenthood fails to gain enough votes to advance. #prolife
— Right to Life (@nrlc) August 3, 2015The Democrats who voted against the measure are of course recycling an old argument:
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Ca) says planned parenthood defunding issue is a continuation of the Republican war on women
— Greta Van Susteren (@greta) August 3, 2015Yet, as Katie explained this morning, the defund bill would not just halt funding for Planned Parenthood - it would redirect the money to other community clinics that offer important health services and don't provide abortions.
Today's outcome was expected. Sixty votes is a challenging threshold, especially with only 54 Republican senators. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) received justified criticism from the pro-life movement when he rejected the opportunity to include the legislation on last week's highway funding bill as an amendment, which had a better chance of passing.
Despite the failed bill, there's no doubt that the outrage against Planned Parenthood is growing and the vote was an important symbol in the fight to expose the abortion giant's agenda. Americans are becoming increasingly aware that Planned Parenthood is not exactly the "women's health" organization it claims to be and their representatives' strange and unconvincing defenses are only further damaging their reputation.
Update: As least one brave Democrat voted to defund Planned Parenthood.
Update II: The pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List has released a statement following the vote, noting the positive pro-life trend in the Senate, despite the legislation's abrupt halt.
“When the Senate last voted to defund Planned Parenthood, only 42 voted for it. Since that 2011 effort, things have only gotten worse for the nation’s largest abortion provider. The Center for Medical Progress has released less than half of its damning evidence of brutality and callousness at Planned Parenthood and, as more videos are made public, outrage will surely grow,” said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser.
Update III: The final tally was 53-46.
Our bill to redirect taxpayer funding from #PlannedParenthood to community health centers unfortunately failed 53-46 in the #Senate.
— Sen. James Lankford (@SenatorLankford) August 3, 2015Updated IV: Make that two brave Democrats. Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana also voted pro-life.