Republicans launch new effort to defund Planned Parenthood in spending plan

In a new Republican effort to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood, a new spending proposal announced Wednesday would strip away all Title X family planning funds for low-income individuals.

The seven-month continuing resolution offered by House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) would remove all $327 million from the Title X program as the GOP pushes a bill that would block such funding to Planned Parenthood and other groups that offer abortion services.

{mosads}Planned Parenthood called it an “extreme proposal.”

“Unbelievably, the House Leadership has set its sights on abolishing a program that provides lifesaving and preventive care to millions of women and saves taxpayers money by helping women plan their families,” said Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Title X funds cannot be used for abortion, but the House GOP is trying to choke off funding to groups that provide them as part of their “Pledge to America” promise to eliminate federal funding of abortion.

More than 4,500 health centers receive Title X funding, and they also provide non-abortion-related services, such as birth control and cancer screenings.

Republicans in recent weeks have been stepping up their attacks on Planned Parenthood. They are seizing on new videos that claim to show Planned Parenthood workers giving advice on how to obtain abortions for underage girls and circumvent sex crime laws. Planned Parenthood said the undercover tapes were highly edited, but the group fired an employee that appeared in one of the videos.

“Every American should be shocked that an employee of the largest recipient of federal funds under Title X has been recorded aiding and abetting underage sex trafficking,” said Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), who’s sponsoring the Title X bill.

Other abortion rights groups slammed the Appropriations Committee proposal Wednesday afternoon.

“The new anti-choice House leadership now wants to take away birth
control and cancer screenings from millions of American women and men,”
said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. “While these
politicians attack abortion coverage from every angle, they now want to
deny funding for birth control, even though that’s the best way to
prevent unintended pregnancy. Americans will not stand for this blatant
hypocrisy.”