Democrats Defeat Override of Obama’s Veto of Bill to Defund Planned Parenthood

Democrats in the House of Representatives defeated an attempt by pro-life Republicans today to override the veto of the reconciliation bill President Barack Obama vetoed that would de-fund the Planned Parenthood abortion business.  The abortion company was caught selling the body parts of aborted babies. Hearings have exposed how the abortion company likely violated federal laws to sell the body parts.

When it originally passed the bill, the House voted 240-181 to de-fund Planned Parenthood with Republicans voting 239-3 for the bill and Democrats voting 1-178 against it. But the House needed a two-thirds vote today to override the veto and to many pro-abortion Democrats voted to keep Planned Parenthood funding in place.

Democrats defeated the override attempt 240-186, as two-thirds of those voting did not agree to override the veto. All but three Republicans voted to override Obama’s veto while all but 1 Democrat voted to sustain the veto — Congressman Peterson of Minnesota. (See how your members voted by scrolling to the bottom).

During the debate, pro-life Congressman Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania urge the House to override.

He said “84 percent of this country supports restrictions on abortion, however, this Administration is giving their tax dollars to organizations that kill innocent babies. Today’s legislation channels taxpayer money away from organizations that provide abortion toward something all Americans can support–federally qualified health centers. These centers are focused on caring for the poorest in our communities, and they actually care for women’s health. Unlike Planned Parenthood, they actually do mammograms.”

The measure also repealed the abortion-funding Obamacare legislation and Obama cited that as the primary reason for vetoing the overall bill. The vote override vote comes just days after more than half a million Americans are expected to March for Life in the nation’s capital and solemnly mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, which has resulted in the deaths of 58 million unborn babies since 1973.

SIGN THE PETITION! Congress Must De-Fund Planned Parenthood Immediately

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, in an email to LifeNews, underscored the importance of the override vote.

“In a historic move, the House and the Senate sent to the president for the first time a bill that would extricate taxpayers from funding Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the country, currently under investigation for the harvesting and sale of baby body parts. Unfortunately, President Obama, a great friend of Cecile Richards and Planned Parenthood, quickly vetoed this landmark bill,” he said.

“In addition to eliminating a significant portion of federal funding for the nation’s largest abortion provider, the Reconciliation bill also cuts fines contained in ObamaCare related to the employer mandate and the individual mandate. It cuts the “prevention fund” which is a government slush fund, and it also repeals key taxes in ObamaCare. Further, it contains a provision to cut government subsidies for health care plans that include elective abortion coverage,” Perkins continued.

He added: “The vote to override the veto on this pro-life Reconciliation bill is an important step in shifting the moral responsibility of funding scandal-ridden abortion businesses from the shoulders of taxpayers to the shoulders of the president alone. Representatives need to hear how important this vote is to their constituents. Let your Member of Congress know this veto must be overridden.”

Although Obama vetoed the bill, SBA List president Marjorie Dannenfelser said the vote is important because it shows a similar de-funding bill can get to a pro-life president in 2017.

“The reconciliation process which brought this bill to the president’s desk is the most important process because it is the one way to avoid a Senate filibuster, ensuring a similar bill could go to pro-life president in 2017,” she said. “It is the first bill ever to get to the president’s desk that would achieve this longtime pro-life goal. We applaud the House and Senate’s passage of this reconciliation legislation as the most important vehicle for actually achieving the goal of defunding Planned Parenthood.

Speaker Paul Ryan is not shocked at President Barack Obama today vetoed a bill that would repeal Obamacare and de-fund the Planned Parenthood abortion business. He promised the House would hold a vote to override the veto.

“It’s no surprise that someone named Obama vetoed a bill repealing Obamacare. But we will hold a vote to override this veto, taking this process all the way to the end under the Constitution,” he said. “But here’s the thing. The idea that Obamacare is the law of the land for good is a myth. This law will collapse under its own weight, or it will be repealed. Because all those rules and procedures Senate Democrats have used to block us from doing this? That’s all history.”

“We have shown now that there is a clear path to repealing Obamacare without 60 votes in the Senate. So, next year, if we’re sending this bill to a Republican president, it will get signed into law,” Ryan continued. “Obamacare will be gone. And then, for all the people who have seen their premiums go up, for people who have lost their plan or their doctor, for people who have to deal with all the mandates, the restrictions, and the red tape, we can replace this law with a truly patient-centered health care system. It’s just a matter of time.”

The bill would block, for one year, most federal payments to Planned Parenthood. At least 89% of federal funding of Planned Parenthood would be blocked by this bill. The bill would repeal a number of major components of the Obamacare health law, including two of the major provisions that will lead to rationing of lifesaving care — the “Independent Payment Advisory Board” and the “excess benefits tax.”

In August, Senate Democrats defeated an effort to revoke taxpayer funding for the Planned Parenthood abortion business by filibustering the bill and preventing a vote on it. Republicans were unable to secure the 60 voted needed to invoke cloture and stop debate on the bill, allowing an up or down vote. Republicans could only get 53 votes to shut off debate.

Then, in September, Senate Democrats voted to defeat a government funding bill that would de-fund the Planned Parenthood abortion business after it was caught in a series of 10 videos selling aborted babies and their body parts. The Senate voted 52 to 47 against ending debate.

Dozens of leading pro-life groups have already indicated their support for the bill, including the National Right to Life Committee. In a letter to members of Congress that NRLC provided to LifeNews.com, the group indicated it strongly supports the bill to de-fund Planned Parenthood.

“NRLC strongly supports the language in the bill that would block, for one year, most federal payments to affiliates of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA). It would close the largest pipeline for federal funding of Planned Parenthood, Medicaid, and apply as well to the CHIP and the Title V and Title XX block grant programs, thus covering roughly 89% of all federal funds to Planned Parenthood. The amounts denied to Planned Parenthood in effect are reallocated to community health centers,” the pro-life group explained.

“Over one-third of all abortions in the U.S. are performed at PPFA-affiliated facilities. Longstanding objections to the massive federal funding of PPFA have been reinforced by recent widely publicized undercover videos, which illuminate the callous brutality that occurs daily in these abortion mills,” NRLC added.

The reconciliation bill also repeals portions of Obamacare,including its rationing components. With regard to the rationing aspects of Obamacare, NRLC strongly supports a repeal.

“In addition, NRLC has always opposed the Obamacare law and advocated its repeal. With respect to H.R. 3762, we particularly endorse the components that would repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) and the “excess benefits tax” (“Cadillac Tax”), both dangerous mechanisms that would ultimately contribute to the rationing of lifesaving care,” the right to life group said.

Leading pro-life groups that also support the reconciliation bill to de-fund Planned Parenthood include Susan B. Anthony List, National Right to Life, Family Research Council, March for Life, Concerned Women for America, Students for Life, Priests for Life, Operation Rescue, and American Life League, among others.

A new Congressional report finds that de-funding the Planned Parenthood abortion business — even for one year — would save “several thousand” unborn babies from the nightmare of abortion. The report also finds de-funding Planned Parenthood would save the federal government $235 million.

The expose’ videos catching Planned Parenthood officials selling the body parts of aborted babies have shocked the nation. Here is a list of all eleven:

• In the first video: Dr. Deborah Nucatola of Planned Parenthood commented on baby-crushing: “We’ve been very good at getting heart, lung, liver, because we know that, so I’m not gonna crush that part, I’m gonna basically crush below, I’m gonna crush above, and I’m gonna see if I can get it all intact.”
• In the second video: Planned Parenthood’s Dr. Mary Gatter joked, “I want a Lamborghini” as she negotiated the best price for baby parts.
• In the third video: Holly O’Donnell, a former Stem Express employee who worked inside a Planned Parenthood clinic, detailed first-hand the unspeakable atrocities and how she fainted in horror over handling baby legs.
• In the fourth video: Planned Parenthood’s Dr. Savita Ginde stated, “We don’t want to do just a flat-fee (per baby) of like, $200. A per-item thing works a little better, just because we can see how much we can get out of it.” She also laughed while looking at a plate of fetal kidneys that were “good to go.”
• In the fifth video: Melissa Farrell of Planned Parenthood-Gulf Coast in Houston boasted of Planned Parenthood’s skill in obtaining “intact fetal cadavers” and how her “research” department “contributes so much to the bottom line of our organization here, you know we’re one of the largest affiliates, our Research Department is the largest in the United States.”
• In the sixth video: Holly O’Donnell described technicians taking fetal parts without patient consent: “There were times when they would just take what they wanted. And these mothers don’t know. And there’s no way they would know.”
• In the seventh and perhaps most disturbing video: Holly O’Donnell described the harvesting, or “procurement,” of organs from a nearly intact late-term fetus aborted at Planned Parenthood Mar Monte’s Alameda clinic in San Jose, CA. “‘You want to see something kind of cool,’” O’Donnell says her supervisor asked her. “And she just taps the heart, and it starts beating. And I’m sitting here and I’m looking at this fetus, and its heart is beating, and I don’t know what to think.”
• In the eighth video: StemExpress CEO Cate Dyer admits Planned Parenthood sells “a lot of” fully intact aborted babies.
• The ninth video: catches a Planned Parenthood medical director discussing how the abortion company sells fully intact aborted babies — including one who “just fell out” of the womb.
• The 10th video: catches the nation’s biggest abortion business selling specific body parts — including the heart, eyes and “gonads” of unborn babies.The video also shows the shocking ways in which Planned Parenthood officials admit that they are breaking federal law by selling aborted baby body parts for profit.
• Unreleased Videos: Unreleased videos from CMP show Deb Vanderhei of Planned Parenthood caught on tape talking about how Planned Parenthood abortion business affiliates may “want to increase revenue [from selling baby parts] but we can’t stop them…” Another video has a woman talking about the “financial incentives” of selling aborted baby body parts.
• The 11th video: catches a texas Planned Parenthood abortionist planning to sell the intact heads of aborted babies for research. Amna Dermish is caught on tape describing an illegal partial-birth abortion procedure to terminate living, late-term unborn babies which she hopes will yield intact fetal heads for brain harvesting.

SIGN THE PETITION! Congress Must Investigate Planned Parenthood for Selling Aborted Baby Parts

The full, unedited videos have confirmed that revelations that some aborted baby remains sold by Planned Parenthood go to biotech companies for the purpose of creating “humanized” mice. Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood has been exposed as having sold body parts from aborted babies for as much as 15 years.

The federal law that technically prohibits the sale of aborted babies and their body parts was written by a pro-abortion Congressman decades ago and essentially spells out a process by which sellers of aborted baby body parts can meet certain criteria that allows the sales to be legal. That’s why a Colorado congressman has introduced legislation to totally ban the sales of aborted baby body parts.

Yea is a pro-life vote to override, No is a pro-abortion vote to fund Planned Parenthood

—- YEAS    241 —