[LifeSiteNews] The U.S. House of Representatives voted 230 to 188 today to overturn former President Obama’s “eleventh hour” HHS rule forcing states to give Title X money to organizations that commit abortions. (Photo via LifeNews.com)
Title X money comes from the government to fund “family planning services,” but technically not abortion.
Before he left office, Obama pushed through an HHS regulation that essentially forces states to give Planned Parenthood Title X funding. Under this rule, states must give Planned Parenthood or abortionists Title X grants and may not choose to redirect those funds to comprehensive healthcare clinics.
Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest abortion provider. It commits more than 300,000 abortions annually.
Family Research Council president Tony Perkins called the Obama HHS regulation a “backdoor handout for the abortion industry.”
But thanks to the Congressional Review Act, Congress may overturn such agency regulations within 60 legislative days. Only 51 Senate votes are needed now that it has passed the House.
Rep. Diane Black, R-TN, introduced H.J. Res. 43 to overturn what pro-life groups call the Obama administration’s “parting gift” to Planned Parenthood.
On February 14, Planned Parenthood sent an email to supporters warning that if the House voted to overturn Obama’s HHS rule, it would be a “devastating attack” for them. It will “embolden extremist politicians to block” funding to “a health center just because that center also provides safe, legal abortion,” Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards wrote.
Black said letting states have the right to not give Title X grants to groups that commit abortions “shouldn’t be” a partisan issue.
“You don’t have to be [pro-life] to support this resolution,” said Black. “You just have to support the 10th Amendment.”
“We are not voting to defund Planned Parenthood in any way, shape, or form,” she continued. “We are not voting to cut Title X funding. And we are not voting to restrict abortion rights.”
“Without this bill, states would be forced to fund the abortion industry by federal bureaucrats,” said Rep. Luke Messer, R-IN.
Two abortion-supporting Democratic Congresswomen used language about protecting the vulnerable when arguing in favor of the pro-abortion rule…
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