House passes bill to defund Planned Parenthood


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.
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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.
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