The federal government has been funded for another three weeks, but minus the Pence Amendment -- meaning funding for Planned Parenthood continues.
On Tuesday the House passed a Continuing Resolution (CR), which is the sixth temporary funding bill so far without agreement on a measure for the rest of the federal budget year. The CR, which now goes to the Senate, passed 271-158 (see roll call vote). It includes federal tax dollars for abortions in the nation's capitol and funds non-abortion services for Planned Parenthood.
Pro-life and pro-family groups urged members of Congress to vote against the latest CR unless it included the Pence Amendment, which would have eliminated funds for Planned Parenthood -- but only 54 Republicans voted against it. Marilyn Musgrave, projects director at Susan B. Anthony List, tells OneNewsNow the House failed the test in Tuesday's vote.
"Come three weeks, they're going to get another test -- and I hope they pass the test," she states. "At a time of moral outrage and fiscal crisis, now is the time to defund Planned Parenthood."The call for defunding Planned Parenthood came after investigations by Mark Crutcher at Life Dynamics and Lila Rose at Live Action revealed their clinics consistently offering abortion services for minors and trafficked girls, and advice on how to circumvent the law.
Musgrave points out that leading up to Tuesday's vote, grassroots activists spoke loudly against funding the nation's largest abortion provider. "And we know we've got problems in the Senate," she offers, alluding to the Democratic majority in that chamber. "So we need an especially strong stand from the House of Representatives."
David Christensen with Family Research Council also expresses his displeasure with the House vote. "We are very pleased to see a number of pro-life conservatives vote against the CR, but we are disappointed that it did pass," he says. (Listen to audio report)
Both houses of Congress will revisit the subject in a couple of weeks trying to end the budget deadlock. "The Senate and the House are negotiating on a longer-term budget," Christensen explains, "and we are encouraging the Republican leadership and pro-lifers on both sides to make sure that the longer-term budget would not include funding for abortion [or] funding for Planned Parenthood."
Another troublesome facet of the approved CR is that it pumps more money into the United Nations Population Fund, which is complicit in China's one-child abortion policies.
Christensen encourages voters to contact their members in both chambers to end all abortion funding.
Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
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Illinois Federation for Right to Life
2600 State Street, Suite E
Alton, IL 62002
Phone: 618-466-4122
Fax: 618-466-4134
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E-mail: mail@ifrl.org
