Planned Parenthood organizes nationwide rallies to protest Senate healthcare bill

Planned Parenthood is planning a wave of nationwide protests to dissuade the Senate from including language in the ObamaCare repeal bill that would defund the nonprofit organization.

The organization says its message at Wednesday night’s rallies, taking place in at least 20 states, is simple: “Do not take away my health care.”

The organization says it will hold more than 60 “Pink Out The Night” rallies in major cities across the country on Wednesday night “to call on the Senate to protect access to health care and reject efforts to block patients from care at Planned Parenthood,” according to a press release.

Organizers are giving away strands of pink lights and encouraging participants to hang them over their front doors at home.

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“As the Senate drafts its Trumpcare bill behind closed doors, with no hearings, the public is making its voice heard,” the organization said in a press release, slamming senators for meeting behind closed doors to craft the Senate GOP’s version of the ObamaCare repeal bill.

“On Wednesday, rallies will be held in over 20 states from California, to Iowa, Maine, Nevada, Ohio, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Florida, and Illinois,” the statement continues. “Crowds of hundreds are expected in New York and Washington, DC.”

As of Wednesday, a parliamentary rule leaves the status of language defunding Planned Parenthood in the Senate’s planned legislation unclear.

Aides and lobbyists told The Hill earlier Wednesday that the provisions are in serious danger of being cut from the bill, because they do not meet budgetary requirements. Republicans are using budget reconciliation rules to pass the ObamaCare repeal bill without fear of a Democratic filibuster, but that requires all provisions in the bill to be budget-related.

If the language is dropped from the bill, it could cost the GOP votes from key conservative senators, endangering the bill’s possibility of passing.