Planned Parenthood Defund Attempt Stalls at Senate

The bill to cut off the federal funding of Planned Parenthood stalled when the procedural vote failed on Monday, August 3.

Reports from CNN say that the proposal fell short of the 60 votes necessary to defund Planned Parenthood. Largely backed by Republican senators, the proposal was supported by only two Democrats on the vote, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana.

The disputes over Planned Parenting come after undercover videos were leaked by the anti-abortion group Center for Medical Progress. In the videos, Planned Parenthood staff members are seen and heard discussing fetal tissue donations. It also includes Colorado-based Dr. Savita Ginde talking about reimbursement costs. Anti-abortion activists and Republican groups have accused the group of illegal sale of fecal tissues, which defenders have denied repeatedly.

Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards wrote an editorial piece on Washington Post explaining the recorded statements and actions, as well as apologizing on behalf of the organization.

"While predictably these videos do not show anything illegal on Planned Parenthood's part, medical and scientific conversations can be upsetting to hear, and I immediately apologized for the tone that was used, which did not reflect the compassion that people have come to know and expect from Planned Parenthood," she wrote.

The president also slammed the people who recorded and published the video. "These extremists created a fake business, made apparently misleading corporate filings and then used false government identifications to gain access to Planned Parenthood's medical and research staff with the agenda of secretly filming without consent - then heavily edited the footage to make false and absurd assertions about our standards and services. They spent three years doing everything they could - not to uncover wrongdoing, but rather to create it. They failed," she said.

Although the attempts of defunding have been unsuccessful thus far, the repercussions of this controversy are sure to arise in funding bills votes and even the presidential race in 2016. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who is said to be running for the Republican nomination, expounded on his thoughts to Dallas Morning News. The senator said he would consider all procedural tools to defund the group.

Democrat frontrunner Hillary Clinton released a video on Twitter defending Planned Parenthood, calling it "the country's leading provider of reproductive health care."

"If this feels like a full-on assault on women's health, that's because it is," Clinton states in the web video. "When politicians talk about defunding Planned Parenthood, they're talking about blocking millions of women, men and young people from life-saving preventive care. They're talking about cutting people off from the health care provider they now and trust."

Republicans are trying to cut millions off from health care. Hillary has a message for them. #standwithPP https://t.co/iIz1sUPu2z

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 3, 2015