Senate

McConnell presses Dems on Planned Parenthood

by Jordain Carney - 07/29/15 9:53 AM ET

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) sought to keep pressure on Democrats on Wednesday ahead of an upcoming vote to block federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

“It’s a simple choice. Senators can either vote to protect women’s health or they can vote to protect subsidies for a political group mired in scandal,” the Republican leader said.

{mosads}The comments came after McConnell finished the fast-track process on Wednesday that allows for the legislation to skip the committee process and go directly to the Senate floor to be taken up for a vote.

The bill, which was introduced Tuesday, would defund Planned Parenthood and redirect funding to other women’s health organizations. McConnell suggested that the Senate will take a vote on the legislation next week.

The latest legislation comes after a third video surfaced Tuesday, which appeared to show a Planned Parenthood official in Colorado negotiating with someone posing as a buyer of fetal tissue.

Lawmakers, including McConnell and Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), huddled in the Republican leader’s office on Tuesday to hash out the details of the legislation.

McConnell suggested on Wednesday that since Planned Parenthood’s “entrenched lobbyists” are aligned with Democrats, “this moment calls for senators to rise higher and think bigger.”

While, McConnell called on Democrats to not block the legislation to defund Planned Parenthood, Senate Democratic leadership suggested Tuesday that Republicans will be unable to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a procedural hurdle.

“I think that we have to understand that it is an attack on women’s health, as Senator Murray so clearly outlined to our caucus today,” Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters Tuesday. “We’re dealing with the health of American women, and they’re dealing with some right wing crazy deal.”

Tags Harry Reid Mitch McConnell Rand Paul