Republicans Playing Offense In The Wake Of Covert Videos About Planned Parenthood’s Fetal Tissue Program
GOP lawmakers are calling for an investigation into the organization's activities and for its federal funding to be revoked. And, even as Planned Parenthood attempts damage control, the controversy is touching various legislative proposals.
Reuters:
Republicans Seek Probe Of Abortion Rules After Planned Parenthood Videos
Republican presidential candidates and lawmakers are calling for Planned Parenthood to be investigated and its federal funding eliminated after two videos that critics said showed the reproductive health care group is involved in the illegal sale of aborted fetal tissue. White House hopeful Senator Rand Paul introduced an amendment to a highway bill Wednesday that would cut the nearly $500 million in taxpayer funding that goes annually to Planned Parenthood. (Cassella, 7/23)
Politico Pro:
Republicans Offer Legislation Defunding Planned Parenthood
Congressional Republicans began working Wednesday to defund Planned Parenthood as House Democrats called for Attorney General Loretta Lynch and the California attorney general to investigate the group that produced the undercover sting videos at the center of the controversy. (Ehley, 7/22)
Politico:
Planned Parenthood Does Damage Control As GOP Demands Answers
House Republicans are threatening to subpoena a top Planned Parenthood official unless the group voluntarily makes her available for an interview about alleged sales of fetal tissue from abortions. But the women’s health group is ramping up its own efforts to contain political damage from the controversy. The dispute over Dr. Deborah Nucatola and her comments in a video secretly taped by anti-abortion activists means abortion - not a dominant issue in American politics for several years - could move front and center this fall as Republican lawmakers try to score political points on Planned Parenthood. Several Republican presidential candidates have already attacked the organization, meaning abortion rights could be part of the struggle for the White House as well. (Palmer and Bresnahan, 7/22)
Politico Pro:
Planned Parenthood Controversy Derails Veterans Bill
Senate Democrats pulled a bill from a scheduled committee markup Wednesday after Republicans threatened to force a vote on prohibiting the Veterans Administration from “harvesting” or “selling” fetal tissue. (Haberkorn, 7/22)
The Associated Press:
Dem Senator Withdraws Vets Fertility Bill, Cites GOP Attacks
With partisan battling over abortion on the rise, a Democratic senator withdrew a bill Wednesday expanding government fertility services for wounded veterans and blamed what she said was a Republican attack on women's health care. A GOP senator said the changes he was pushing were designed to set priorities for an overburdened Department of Veterans Affairs. Meanwhile, the White House went further than it had since the uproar began last week over secretly recorded videos of Planned Parenthood officials discussing how they provide organs from aborted fetuses for research. White House spokesman Josh Earnest suggested President Barack Obama would veto legislation erasing federal funds for Planned Parenthood, as many Republicans want to do, and said the videos could have been "selectively edited to distort" Planned Parenthood's procedures, as the group has claimed. (Fram, 7/22)
In other news around the halls of Congress -
The Associated Press:
Both Parties United In Their Criticism Of VA
Lawmakers from both parties Wednesday accused the Department of Veterans Affairs of hiding details of a budget crisis that could force the shutdown of some VA hospitals next month. The VA last week said it may shutter hospitals unless Congress closes a $2.5 billion shortfall caused by a sharp increase in demand by veterans for health care, including costly treatments for the deadly hepatitis C virus. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs committee, said he was shocked at the magnitude of the VA's problems and outraged that Congress was not notified until nearly 10 months into the budget year. The possible closure of hospitals was not mentioned as recently as last month, when the VA first told Congress about the potential budget shortfall, Miller said. (Daly, 7/23)
