House Freezes Planned Parenthood Funds
UPDATED Hawaii’s two representatives side with most Democrats in failure to stop GOP bill.
Tulsi Gabbard and Mark Takai were among who on Friday voted against a Republican measure to freeze federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
But the GOP-controlled chamber prevailed in the聽241-187 vote. Three Republicans rejected the measure.
The vote, , followed聽weeks “of escalating tension” surrounding Planned Parenthood’s聽use of fetal tissue.
In a statement after the vote on the聽Defund Planned Parenthood Act, Takai said:
鈥淧lanned Parenthood鈥檚 successes for reproductive health over the last century show the organization鈥檚 mission is vital for the wellbeing of women in America. Every year, Planned Parenthood provides hundreds of thousands of cervical cancer screenings, breast exams, birth control and information to over 2 million women.”
UPDATE: Gabbard, in statement given to聽Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii, said:
鈥淟egislation that defunds Planned Parenthood would threaten access to affordable care for millions of low-income women who rely on programs like Medicaid for their basic health needs. The fact is, for almost forty years, the Federal government has prohibited taxpayer dollars from covering abortions, except in the dire circumstances of rape, incest, or when a woman鈥檚 life is in jeopardy.”
Hawaii’s U.S. representatives were also on the losing side of聽 on a bill that calls for “tightening restrictions on abortion doctors who violate infant protections.”
Five Democrats voted with all the Republicans on the聽Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.
Democrats in the U.S. Senate are expected to block the Planned Parenthood legislation and President Barack Obama has vowed to veto both measures.
