Planned Parenthood: GOP leadership ‘may go from bad to worse’

Caught in the middle of a government shutdown fight, the advocacy arm of Planned Parenthood on Friday warned the resignation of Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) could be an ominous turn of events in the fight over women’s healthcare.

“It looks like the leadership in the House may go from bad to worse,” Dawn Laguens, the executive vice president of Planned Parenthood’s Action Fund, said in a statement.

{mosads}“While John Boehner was never a champion of women’s healthcare in this country, even he recognized that defunding Planned Parenthood wasn’t what the American people wanted,” she said.

Boehner’s surprise announcement comes as GOP leaders are scrambling to avoid a government shutdown next week, with federal funding for Planned Parenthood one of the main points of contention.

A group of conservatives in the House has vowed to vote against any funding bill that includes money for Planned Parenthood, citing undercover videos on the organization’s handling of fetal tissue.

The Senate is poised to approve a funding bill that includes Planned Parenthood, which the House is expected to take up next week.

Seeking to win over conservatives, House GOP leaders on Friday announced they will seek to defund Planned Parenthood through the budget reconciliation process, along with the repeal of ObamaCare. Reconciliation bills cannot be filibustered in the Senate.

“The extreme flank of this Congress has become so obsessed with ending women’s access to basic healthcare that they’ll pursue it at all costs — no matter how many Americans disagree, and how many women they hurt as a result,” Laguens said.