Overnight Healthcare: Senators move up timeline for late-term abortion ban

Momentum is growing for a GOP-backed bill banning late-term abortions in the wake of the viral video of Planned Parenthood’s use of fetal tissue.

Republican senators are planning a markup of the bill – which would ban nearly all abortions after 20 weeks – in September, with a final vote expected shortly after, according to a GOP aide. The Senate Judiciary Committee is also planning a hearing on the topic “sometime this fall,” spokeswoman Beth Levine said.

{mosads}Senators are moving up the timeline to consider the bill after an anti-abortion group released a video that shows a Planned Parenthood executive in a shockingly candid discussion about the demand for fetal lungs, livers and “intact” hearts by medical researchers.

While the donation of fetal tissue for research is legal, abortion opponents are pushing the 20-week ban as a way to limit the number of late-term abortions in which organs are involved. Read more here.

PLANNED PARENTHOOD DOCTOR ‘REPRIMANDED’: The group’s chief medical officer has been “reprimanded” after she was secretly recorded in a disturbing discussion about the cost of removing fetal organs during a lunch meeting, a spokesperson for the group said Thursday.

The organization declined to say exactly what sanctions Dr. Deborah Nucatola is facing. Earlier in the day, the president of Planned Parenthood spoke out about the video for the first time, which she said did not reflect the organization’s mission.

“Our top priority is the passionate care that we provide. In our video, one of our staff members speaks in a way that does not reflect that compassion,” president Cecile Richards said in a video statement released Thursday afternoon.

“This is unacceptable, and I personally apologize for the staff member’s tone and statements,” she said. The viral video, which has tallied nearly 2 million views, has prompted two congressional investigations. Read more here.

DEMS PUSH BACK AGAINST HEALTHCARE.GOV FRAUD CLAIMS: Democrats are fighting back against a government watchdog report that found fictitious applicants went undetected and received coverage in the federal ObamaCare marketplace.

An investigation by the Government Accountability Office found that 11 out of 12 fake applicants went undetected on HealthCare.gov and received coverage. But Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, said Thursday that it’s much harder for real people to game the system.

“This study looks at a dozen fictitious cases — and not one of them was a real person who filed taxes or got medical services,” he said. “No fast-buck fraudster got a government check sent to their bank account.” Read more here:

Friday’s schedule:

Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) will hold a press call on the Trans-Pacific Partnership’s impact on pharmaceutical access.

State by state

ACLU files lawsuit to keep Alabama’s largest abortion clinic open

Failed state health exchanges could offer model for Colorado

Louisiana offers same-sex health insurance for state workers

What we’re reading

Medicaid turns 50, mired in controversy

GOP govs weigh ObamaCare compromise: Make Medicaid recipients pay

The real story behind ObamaCare’s double-digit rate hike

How ObamaCare is helping protect trans people’s right to health

What you might have missed from The Hill

Alaska governor to expand Medicaid under ObamaCare

Boehner: ‘I’d vomit‘ talking about Planned Parenthood video

Senate panel clears $20.5B bill to fund USDA, FDA

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