WASHINGTON -- The Senate blocked a Republican drive Monday to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
The derailed legislation was the Republican response to videos, recorded secretly by anti-abortion activists, showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing how they sometimes provide medical researchers with tissue from aborted fetuses. Those videos have led conservatives to accuse the group of illegally selling organs for profit, claims that Planned Parenthood has denied.
The Senate voted 53-46 to halt Democratic delays aimed at derailing the bill but fell seven short of the 60 votes Republicans needed. Arkansas' Republican Sens. John Boozman and Tom Cotton voted to advance the measure.
Planned Parenthood provides contraception, testing for sexually transmitted diseases and abortions in clinics nationwide.
Democrats were largely quiet when the videos were first distributed, but their defense of Planned Parenthood has grown more robust.
"It's our obligation to protect our wives, our sisters, our daughters, our granddaughters" from the GOP's "absurd policies," said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "The Republican Party has lost its moral compass."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Democrats should not protect Planned Parenthood's federal funds "just to protect some political group," an apparent reference to the organization's campaign contributions to Democratic candidates.
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."
Ernst sponsored the measure as party leaders sought ways to blunt Democratic charges of GOP insensitivity to women.
The only senators to cross party lines were Democrats Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and Illinois Republican Mark Kirk. McConnell joined Democrats in voting to block the bill, a procedural move that allows him to force another vote later. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a presidential candidate, was in New Hampshire and didn't vote.
Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards said Monday's vote showed the bill was "a political nonstarter." Tony Perkins, president of the anti-abortion Family Research Center, said Congress "must take the next step" and remove Planned Parenthood's funding when lawmakers return next month from summer recess.
The anti-abortion Center for Medical Progress has released four videos in which people posing as representatives of a company that purchases fetal tissue converse with Planned Parenthood officials. The videos have been contentious because of the casual descriptions by the Planned Parenthood officials of the abortion procedures they use to obtain tissue, and because they show close-ups of fetal organs in laboratories.
The center and some of its GOP supporters have said the videos show that Planned Parenthood sells the tissue for profit, which is illegal under federal law.
Planned Parenthood says the videos are selectively edited and that the organization only recovers costs of the procedures -- which is legal -- and only gives the tissue to researchers with a mother's consent and in fewer than five states.
Stung by past government shutdowns that voters have blamed on Republicans, GOP leaders have shown no interest in a dispute over federal funding this fall. But it could be challenging for Republican leaders to control their most conservative lawmakers, who are urged on by the party's anti-abortion activists.
Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., has said he expects to get several dozen signatures on a letter opposing any spending bill containing money for Planned Parenthood, and several GOP senators have voiced similar sentiments.
The Republican measure called for funneling Planned Parenthood's federal dollars to other providers of health care to women, including hospitals, state and local agencies and federally financed community health centers.
Republicans said that transfer would enable women to continue receiving the health care they need because Planned Parenthood's nearly 700 clinics are far outnumbered by other providers.
Planned Parenthood and Democrats say many of the organization's centers are in areas with few alternatives for reproductive health care or for other services for low-income women who comprise a majority of its clients.
Planned Parenthood receives more than $500 million yearly in government funds -- including state payments -- more than one-third of its annual $1.3 billion in revenue. Its annual report says it provides services for 2.7 million people annually, mostly women, with abortions accounting for 3 percent of its procedures.
By law, federal funds are already barred from being used for abortions except for cases of incest, rape or when a woman's life is in danger.
Removal from Medicaid
In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration announced Monday that the state is removing Planned Parenthood from its Medicaid program.
The Jindal administration sent the organization notification that it was ending four provider agreements that reimbursed Planned Parenthood for providing health care services to low-income patients through the government-funded Medicaid insurance program.
Jindal cited the videos in his announcement.
"Planned Parenthood does not represent the values of the people of Louisiana and shows a fundamental disrespect for human life. It has become clear that this is not an organization that is worthy of receiving public assistance from the state," Jindal said in a statement.
Planned Parenthood doesn't provide abortions in Louisiana, but it offers cancer screenings, birth control, gynecology exams, sexually transmitted disease treatment and other health services in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
The state had been reimbursing Planned Parenthood for such services provided to Medicaid patients, paying more than $287,000 to the organization in the most recent budget year, according to the state Department of Health and Hospitals.
Anti-abortion groups praised Jindal's action, saying Medicaid patients can use other hospitals, clinics and doctors' offices in the Baton Rouge and New Orleans areas without losing access to services.
But Melissa Flournoy, Louisiana director for Planned Parenthood, said Jindal's decision will reduce health services for the poor.
"More than 4,300 low-income, uninsured women and men were able to access high-quality affordable health care through the safety net provided by Medicaid funding. The men and women who benefit from this funding often have limited health care access, and we are often their primary health care provider," Flournoy said in a statement.
Information for this article was contributed by Alan Fram and Melinda Deslatte of The Associated Press.
A Section on 08/04/2015