LIVE BLOG: Senate Votes to Defund Planned Parenthood – debate starts 2pm
UPDATE: With a vote of 46 NO to 53 Yes, the bill to defund Planned Parenthood has been blocked for now. Check back for list of names/votes.
Two Democrats — Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Joe Donnelly of Indiana — voted with the GOP to bring up the bill.
Several Republican presidential candidates showed up to cast the vote, although the outcome wasn’t really in doubt. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., missed the vote due to his presidential campaigning.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., also voted no to enable him to bring the bill back up for a revote… More: http://www.unionleader.com/article/20150723/NEWS060501/150729542/0/NEWHAMPSHIRE01
Today, the Senate is scheduled to debate and vote on defunding Planned Parenthood. Debate is scheduled to begin at 2:00pm with a vote coming around 5:30pm. Scroll down for video links. The vote will likely be decided by the following undecided Senators:
Republicans:
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, (R-AK) 202-224-6665
Sen. Mark Kirk, (R-IL) 202-224-2854
Sen. Susan Collins, (R-ME) 202-224-2523
Democrats:
Sen. Joe Donnelly, (D-IN) 202-224-4814
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, (D-ND) 202-224-2043
Sen. Bob Casey, (D-PA) 202-224-6324
Sen. Joe Manchin III, (D-WV) 202-224-3954
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) quickly garnered at least 163 co-sponsors for S. 1881: A bill to prohibit Federal funding of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. See co-sponsors including Senators McCain, Cruz, Paul and Lee here.
The key language of the bill reads, “…no Federal funds may be made available to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, or to any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, successors, or clinics.”
U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 #DefundPlannedParenthood
— iroots.org activism (@irootsorg) August 3, 2015
CSPAN link here: http://www.c-span.org/video/?327431-1/us-senate-debate-planned-parenthood-funding
Alternate link from Senate floor: http://floor.senate.gov/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&event_id=482
UPDATE: The bill now has 163 cosponsors (162 Republicans, 1 Democrat). Details. It will be interesting to see who votes and particularly Democrats who support the defunding move like Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) who said Monday that he supports cutting off federal funds for Planned Parenthood, hours ahead of procedural vote in the Senate. “Like many West Virginians, I am very troubled by the callous behavior of Planned Parenthood staff in recently released videos,” Manchin said in a statement. “Until these allegations have been answered and resolved, I do not believe that taxpayer money should be used to fund this organization.” (via The Hill) Refresh your screen for updates as they come. Developing… For now, follow our Twitter feed for the hashtag #DefundPlannedParenthood. #DefundPlannedParenthood Tweets
Today’s bill to defund Planned Parenthood will not strip federal healthcare funds from women in need. Instead, the plan is for the money to be reallocated to Federally Qualified Health Centers and other similar healthcare providers. Because there are many more FQHCs than Planned Parenthood clinics across the nation, women’s access to true healthcare will actually increase. (There are approximately 9,000 health centers that serve women, but do not perform abortions.) – Live Action
Sen. Rand Paul has an ad out utilizing clips from the sting videos.
Here’s how civil the comments are today over at DailyKos, a far left site, in regards to those supporting the defunding of Planned Parenthood:
What those on the left think of those wanting to #DefundPlannedParenthood from DailyKos pic.twitter.com/NaoCrI6tRK
— iroots.org activism (@irootsorg) August 3, 2015
UPDATE: We’ve compiled all of the videos put out by The Center for Medical Progress in their sting/investigation of Planned Parenthood. You can fwd through all of their videos including over 6 hours of raw unedited footage.