These Two Republicans Voted Against the Senate Bill to Defund Planned Parenthood

National   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Aug 24, 2018   |   9:54AM   |   Washington, DC

Another effort to defund the largest abortion group in America failed in the U.S. Senate on Thursday when two Republicans voted against the pro-life amendment.

The Senate voted 45-48 against an amendment sponsored by pro-life Sen. Rand Paul that would have revoked taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood.

Republicans hold a narrow 51-seat majority in the Senate, and two are consistently pro-abortion: Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine. Democrat Sens. Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia who tout themselves as pro-life also voted against the measure.

Murkowski and Collins regularly have bucked their party platform and voted to support Planned Parenthood. In 2017, they voted with their party and pro-life advocates just 40 percent of the time.

After the vote Thursday, Planned Parenthood leader Dawn Laguens personally thanked the two Republicans on Twitter.

“Amid the countless attacks on our health & rights, the Senate rejected another effort to ‘defund’ Planned Parenthood,” Laguens wrote. “Why? Because family planning is popular. Huge thank you to @SenateDems, @lisamurkowski, & @SenatorCollins for standing up & protecting access to health care.”

Last summer, Murkowski told her constituents that she is “committed” to forcing taxpayers to fund the abortion chain.

“I am committed to ensuring that important provisions of the ACA, such as covering those with pre-existing conditions, continued support for Medicaid expansion, coverage for dependents and no lifetime limits, and funding for Planned Parenthood remain intact,” Murkowski wrote in a letter to her constituents.

Neither Murkowski nor Collins has indicated if she will support U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh either. Both did vote to confirm Justice Neil Gorsuch, but they are facing huge pressure from abortion activists to vote against Kavanaugh.

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Earlier this week, Collins commented on this pressure in an interview with Politico.

“It baffles me that Planned Parenthood keeps launching these attacks on me,” Collins said. “I have voted for 21 years now for funding for Planned Parenthood. And yet, they continue to question my commitment. And that is extremely aggravating and unfair.”

Last year, the Senate also fell short of enough votes to defund Planned Parenthood, in part, because of Collins and Murkowski. The only way the abortion business will be defunded completely is if pro-life voters head to the polls this November and provide the pro-life side a few more votes in the Senate to be able to achieve victory.

Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion business in America, aborting approximately 320,000 unborn babies every year. Its most recent annual report showed a record income of $1.46 billion, with about half a billion dollars coming from taxpayers.

“Planned Parenthood ends the lives of 320,000 babies each year, that’s about 900 babies every day,” Paul emphasized in his speech on the Senate floor. “Planned Parenthood received over 400 million dollars of taxpayer money, the government with a wink and a nod tells us that Planned Parenthood doesn’t spend the money on abortions but everybody knows that the taxpayers are really cross-subsidizing Planned Parenthood’s abortion mills.”

Earlier this year, the abortion chain announced a $30 million political spending campaign to “take over Congress” in the November midterms.

In December, the U.S. Department of Justice said it is investigating whether the abortion chain illegally sold aborted baby body parts.

ACTION: Contact Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Contact Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.