Today, the House of Representatives voted to defund Planned Parenthood by passing the American Health Care Act, Republicans’ replacement plan for the disastrous Obamacare.
Leading pro-life organization Susan B. Anthony List released the following statement upon the bill’s 217-213 passage, urging the Senate to finish the job and get the bill to President Donald Trump’s desk:
As the Vice President said last night at our annual gala, the legislation passed by the House today does two important things. First, the legislation stops the Obamacare abortion expansion by preventing taxpayer funding of health care plans that cover abortion on-demand. Second, the bill redirects taxpayer dollars away from Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion business, to health care centers that provide comprehensive primary and preventative care to women and girls. We urge the Senate to keep these non-negotiable provisions and quickly advance this bill to the President’s desk.
Other pro-life organizations also quickly took to Twitter to support the bill and celebrate its passage:
BREAKING: U.S. House votes to defund Planned Parenthood. https://t.co/2wY3G88S6A
— Live Action (@LiveAction) May 4, 2017
VICTORY: House passes AHCA, eliminating more than $390 million in annual federal funding to Planned Parenthood. #prolife #defundPP pic.twitter.com/bUU7HFkuTL
— FRC (@FRCdc) May 4, 2017
We are thrilled the House voted to #DefundPP. Now it’s the Senate’s turn – keep your promises and defund Planned Parenthood. pic.twitter.com/oq9t45gST8
— Students for Life (@Students4LifeHQ) May 4, 2017
Keynoting the Susan B. Anthony List’s 10th annual gala last night, Vice President Mike Pence lauded the ACHA’s pro-life provisions:
Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, Congress is going to vote to repeal and replace Obamacare. And when they vote to repeal and replace Obamacare, we will finally defund Planned Parenthood…The day Obamacare passed — it was a day of disappointment for the sanctity of life. But hope is finally shining through. The bill before the Congress actually eliminates Obamacare’s abortion expansion and it defunds Planned Parenthood, and keeps the President’s promise to devote those resources to healthcare providers that help women without promoting abortion.
With Planned Parenthood defunded, $422 million in federal money will now be redirected to community health centers, which outnumber Planned Parenthood clinics 20 to 1 — a huge win for the American taxpayer, whose hard earned dollars will no longer go to America’s largest abortion provider.
The bill must now advance through the Senate before it can be signed into law by President Trump.
Photo credit: American Life League via Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0
