Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains (PPRM) denounced the GOP’s Obamacare replacement bill this week, including the legislation’s provision to cut funds for Planned Parenthood itself.
PPRM President Vicki Cowart notes that the Senate bill would “block more than 30,000 women, men and young people in the Rocky Mountain region alone from accessing the trusted reproductive health care they rely on.”
“We will not stand by while politicians play these types of political games with the health care and livelihood of more than one third our patients,” said Cowart.
In a move long backed by anti-abortion groups, the Senate bill would cut federal funds that account for about 40 percent of Planned Parenthood’s budget.
“The expectations of the pro-life movement have been very clear: The health care bill must not indefinitely subsidize abortion and must redirect abortion giant Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer funding to community health centers,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List, and Tony Perkins, president of the right-wing Family Research Council, said in a statement, quoted by the New York Times.
Planned Parenthood has been fighting the GOP legislation since it was announced. Over the last several months, in Colorado, PPRM has enlisted 800 new Planned Parenthood activists, organized monthly events, and targeted U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner with letters and petitions demanding that he stop the GOP Obamacare replacement.
The Planned Parenthood defunding effort may prove to unwind the Republican legislation, as GOP Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have strongly objected to it. If three GOP Senators vote against the health care bill, it would lose, as Senate Democrats unanimously oppose it.
Senate rules may block the defunding effort, according to PPRM and some political observers.
