ObamaCare repeal bill would defund Planned Parenthood

The ObamaCare repeal bill unveiled by the House Monday includes language that would defund Planned Parenthood for a year.

It’s the same language included in the 2015 repeal bill that passed Congress but was vetoed by President Obama. The language, if passed, would block Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid reimbursements. 

Defunding Planned Parenthood has long been a goal of Republicans because it provides abortions, even though they are already legally prohibited from using federal funds for the procedure. 

{mosads}But including the provision in the ObamaCare repeal bill could make passage more difficult, particularly in the Senate, where Republicans have a narrow 52-48 majority.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski said earlier this month she wouldn’t vote for any repeal bill that also defunds Planned Parenthood.

She joined another Republican moderate, Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), and former Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) in 2015 to try to strip a provision defunding Planned Parenthood from the Senate’s ObamaCare repeal bill. 

Collins also has not yet said if she would vote against the repeal bill this year if it includes the Planned Parenthood language. 

If Senate Republicans lost three votes in their caucus, and Democrats were united in opposition, they would not be able to pass an ObamaCare repeal bill.

“One in five women in America has relied on Planned Parenthood, and their health care shouldn’t get caught up in congressional Republicans’ extreme agenda,” Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a Monday night statement.