Congress got pro-lifers’ hopes up when it announced that defunding Planned Parenthood would be a priority upon their return from recess next week. That is, until Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell gave them a dose of reality:
“The president’s made it very clear he’s not going to sign any bill that includes defunding of Planned Parenthood, so that’s another issue that awaits a new president, hopefully with a different point of view about Planned Parenthood,” McConnell said Monday on the Kentucky station WYMT’s “Issues and Answers.”
He expanded on his pro-life pessimism:
"We just don’t have the votes to get the outcome we like," he said during an interview with Kentucky TV station WYMT. "The president has the pen. If he doesn’t sign it, it doesn’t happen. We voted on that already in the Senate and we will vote on it again."
McConnell's glum attitude will not sit well with his pro-life critics, who are still frustrated that he dismissed the opportunity to include a Defund Planned Parenthood amendment on an emergency highway funding bill in July. The right to life movement rightly expects more from the Majority Leader.
The House of Representatives is also expected to vote on Rep. Diane Black’s (R-TN) bill to defund Planned Parenthood. Prompted by those horrid videos released from the Center for Medical Progress, Black has insisted it is their duty to bring such a bill to the floor:
“Over the past two weeks, we’ve all seen the gruesome videos showing the heartless depravity of this organization,” Black said in a speech Wednesday. “We issued statements, we made passionate floor speeches, and we pledged action. Now, our constituents would like to know when we’re going to follow through on that promise.”
In conjunction with these votes, the House Judiciary Committee will hold its first hearing on the CMP's 3-year Planned Parenthood investigation. The hearing, titled “Planned Parenthood Exposed: Examining the Horrific Abortion Practices at the Nation’s Largest Abortion Provider,” will focus on whether the abortion giant violated the partial-birth abortion prohibition.
It’s true Obama is not likely to let any bill past his desk that strips Planned Parenthood of taxpayer funding. Yet, that is no reason not to keep fighting for it. The unborn deserve some passion from our pro-life legislators.