Pressure builds on GOP to defund Planned Parenthood

A new Planned Parenthood video released Tuesday is raising pressure on Republicans to take a hard line on funding for the organization as a shutdown fight looms in Congress.

The anti-abortion Center for Medical Progress released its latest secretly filmed video as the debate over defunding Planned Parenthood pits GOP leaders bent on keeping the government open against the party’s conservative wing and a slate of presidential candidates dead set against any federal funding for the group.

{mosads}Spurred by a series of nine videos about Planned Parenthood’s fetal tissue program released since July, 31, House conservatives have signed a letter vowing to oppose any spending bill that includes money for the group. With Democrats in firm opposition to defunding the healthcare provider, the possibility of a shutdown on Oct. 1 sits on the horizon. 

Anti-abortion groups used the latest release on Tuesday to make their calls on Congress louder. 

Mallory Quigley, spokeswoman for the Susan B. Anthony List, a leading group against abortion rights, pointed to portions of the new video showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing how issues related to the use of fetal tissue could become a public relations problem for the organization.

“If you do decide that you want to engage in remuneration, then you need to, like, think that through, and think New York Times headline when you’re creating your policy,” said a woman identified as Deborah VanDerhei, national director for the Consortium of Abortion Providers at Planned Parenthood.

“They feared the New York Times headlines that would be written if this were to become public, and this adds momentum to what we’re asking, that this is the time for Congress to make the case that Planned Parenthood should be defunded,” Quigley said. “No one should be comfortable putting their name on a budget that continues to make taxpayers complicit in what Planned Parenthood is doing.”

Lila Rose, president of the anti-abortion group Live Action and a friend of Center for Medical Progress founder David Daleiden, added Tuesday that “Congress should immediately stop funneling over half a billion taxpayer dollars into Planned Parenthood.”

But with a potential shutdown just half a month away, aides say not to expect any announcements regarding Planned Parenthood or a government funding measure coming out of a House Republican Conference meeting this week.

“I know it will be a topic at the conference meeting, but I don’t think anything will be announced at that time,” a GOP aide said Tuesday. 

Congress has only a handful of days left in session to prevent a shutdown on Oct. 1. Two of those days will be focused on Pope Francis’s visit to Washington next week. 

Stan Collender, executive vice president at Qorvis MSLGroup, said his prediction for a shutdown hasn’t changed since last week. 

“I’m still thinking 67 percent, two-thirds chance,” he said Tuesday. “I also don’t see it getting easier at all. I don’t see a compromise emerging.”

Collender said he thinks Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will initially give in to the conservatives and attach a provision defunding Planned Parenthood to a House continuing resolution (CR). Senate Democrats would block it, which Collender predicts would lead to shutdown for a few days. Ultimately, he said, GOP leaders would need a “clean” funding bill to reopen the government. 

“Boehner’s got to do it just so he could say he tried,” Collender said. 

And if there is a shutdown, he says, the GOP majority would be responsible. 

“Among the general population and in the media, they would be blamed because of the baggage they got from the previous shutdown.”

Boehner is looking to avoid a that. While not completely ruling out language to defund Planned Parenthood in a spending bill, he warned at last week’s conference meeting that a shutdown would damage the larger cause against abortion. 

A spending plan could be released at the last minute to avoid giving conservative opponents time to rally opposition. 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has been even more explicit than the Speaker, vowing that there will not be a shutdown and saying defunding must wait for a new president.  

In the hope of diverting energy from the spending fight, the House will vote this week on a stand-alone bill to cut off Planned Parenthood funds for one year. The Senate will vote on a bill banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. 

But it remains unclear how Republican leaders will overcome conservative demands. Getting Democratic votes for a bill including Planned Parenthood funds could be the answer, but for Boehner that risks inciting new calls to remove him as Speaker. 

A conservative group of lawmakers, the Republican Study Committee, proposed its own version of a spending bill on Tuesday that takes aim at Planned Parenthood, President Obama’s immigration policies and the Iran nuclear deal. 

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) told Roll Call on Tuesday that he is discussing with members the possibility of using reconciliation to defund the group. Under that process, a standalone defunding bill could get through the Senate with just 51 votes instead of 60, but President Obama would still be sure to veto it.

Among the four GOP presidential contenders in the Senate, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has been the most outspoken about risking a government shutdown to defund Planned Parenthood. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has also suggested he’s in that camp. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has said he supports defunding the group and that Democrats would be responsible for a shutdown. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has argued that a shutdown would harm national security. 

Democrats, meanwhile, have their own demands, calling for a short-term spending bill free of any ideological riders that also sets up negotiations to raise spending caps that will return in full force on Oct. 1. 

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday that his party wants “just a clean continuing resolution for a short period of time to allow us to do a more full, more complete deal in the very near future.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) made a similar call last week.

But Reid and Pelosi have lamented that Republicans so far have not negotiated with them. 

“We have a looming government shutdown,” Reid said. “It’s right before our eyes. The Republican leader has already wasted far too much time dithering and doing nothing on that.”