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WASHINGTON, D.C. – This evening, the Senate voted 53 to 46 to end federal taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood and redirect those funds to health clinics that provide a broader range of medical services. The test vote now sets the stage for a September debate and vote in Congress over whether to continue taxpayer funding to the scandal plagued abortion organization.
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement:
“We thank the bipartisan majority of senators for voting to protect women’s health and end taxpayer money to a scandal plagued organization that is under investigation for criminal wrong doing.
“When Congress returns in September, they must take the next step in redirecting taxpayer money from Planned Parenthood to the thousands of health care centers that don’t perform abortions and are not under federal and state investigation. Ending taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood will free up over half a billion dollars a year to go to a myriad of health-care service providers that provide a broader range of health services than Planned Parenthood ever has.
"While Americans are divided over abortion, we see common ground quickly forming to ensure Americans aren’t forced to send their tax dollars to an abortion giant that sifts through aborted babies’ parts to see which organs can be salvaged and sold. Trafficking baby body parts is only the latest scandal for an organization that also faces allegations of covering up sex trafficking, engaging in sex selection abortion, and even violating the law criminalizing partial-birth abortion.
“Even those who have advocated for Planned Parenthood in the past, such as Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), have had enough. You don’t have to be pro-life to be horrified by undercover videos suggesting Planned Parenthood manipulated the abortion procedure to yield the most marketable baby parts – increasing the risk to women.
“We thank Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) for her hard work to make today’s vote possible. A vote for Planned Parenthood is a vote for inhumanity. The flow of money from taxpayers to this organization must end,” concluded Perkins.
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