Ladies, bid farewell to your birth control, your cancer screenings, and all the other health care you get from Planned Parenthood. The Republican Congress is coming for all that, and this time, there won’t be a President Obama to veto the bill.
“The entire movement is poised for a victory,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony List, an advocacy group that opposes abortion. “We have every assurance [from congressional leaders] that it’s going to happen. Nobody is saying ‘whether,’ the question is ‘when.’”
If successful, this latest push would be the single biggest victory for anti-abortion groups in years, and likely the first step in a broader agenda aimed at sharply curtailing abortion procedures. Federal law already bars Planned Parenthood from using taxpayer funds for abortions; the group uses the money for family planning and other health services. But anti-abortion groups insist the funding facilitates abortion by freeing up other funds for abortion services. [...]
In interviews, Republican sources said it will be difficult to back away from defunding Planned Parenthood, particularly after the Senate successfully slipped a defunding provision into the Obamacare repeal bill last year using the same reconciliation procedure. And although they lost two Senate seats on Election Day, meaning they have only 52 GOP seats to work with next year, Senate Republicans likely have the votes to repeal Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood. The House would be expected to easily approve the bill.
Defunding will directly affect women on Medicaid, who won’t be able to go to Planned Parenthood for care anymore. But, while the organization vows to keep its doors open and continue providing care, taking a $550 million hit is likely to have one hell of a ripple effect.
And after Republicans make unplanned pregnancies more likely by restricting access to birth control, they’ll look at other anti-abortion bills like a 20-week ban and making the Hyde Amendment permanent. Congressional Democrats sure are going to have a lot of opportunities to stand and fight.