House passes bill to defund Planned Parenthood

(Image credit: Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

published 18 September 2015

In a vote along party lines Friday, House Republicans passed a bill that would end government funding of Planned Parenthood as well as a measure that would restrict certain abortion procedures. However, the battle is far from over: Barack Obama has threatened to veto spending bills that don't fund Planned Parenthood and Democrats have the manpower to block the measures in the Senate.

A steady release of "secretly recorded" Planned Parenthood videos by the anti-abortion group Center for Medical Progress has fueled a return to abortion politics in the 2016 presidential race. Additionally, House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have been in talks in the hopes of avoiding another government shutdown, even while 30 congressional Republicans have sworn not to vote for any spending bill that funds Planned Parenthood.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters