John McCain Sabotages Senate Bill to Defund Planned Parenthood, No Vote Puts Bill in Jeopardy

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Sep 22, 2017   |   2:56PM   |   Washington, DC

John McCain will once again sabotage the Senate bill to defund the Planned Parenthood abortion business. The Arizona senator and former presidential candidate angered pro-life Americans earlier this year when he was a no vote on the previous reconciliation Bill to defund the nation’s biggest abortion company.

Now he’s doing it again. McCain will vote no on the latest version of the Planned Parenthood defunding bill, that also reveals portions of Obamacare.

The Arizona Republican said the bill, authored by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., did not receive sufficient consideration through hearings and markups in the Senate.

“I cannot in good conscience vote for the Graham-Cassidy proposal,” McCain said in a statement. “I believe we could do better working together, Republicans and Democrats, and have not yet really tried.”

The GOP effort on healthcare would transfer revenue from Obamacare to states in the form of block grants so they can set up their own healthcare systems. It was being advanced by Republicans as they faced a Sept. 30 deadline to use reconciliation, which requires 50 votes for passage rather than the 60 needed to block a filibuster.

The bill’s sponsors, Republican leadership and the White House have been pressing hard to win the 50 votes needed. But with Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky repeatedly saying he would vote against it and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine saying Friday she was leaning against it, McCain’s no vote would kill the bill.

“I would consider supporting legislation similar to that offered by my friends Senators Graham and Cassidy were it the product of extensive hearings, debate and amendment,” McCain said in his Friday statement. “But that has not been the case. Instead, the specter of Sept. 30 budget reconciliation deadline has hung over this entire process.”

The Senate Finance Committee has scheduled a hearing for the Graham-Cassidy bill for Monday.

 

McCain joined two probation Republicans to defeat the Senate bill that would defund Planned Parenthood. Called the skinny Bill to repeal portions of Obamacare, pro-life organizations and Senate Republican leaders hoped the bill would get enough votes to be able to land a repeal and defund measure on President Donald Trump’s desk.

But thanks to Senator John McCain the measure failed. Even though McCain frequently votes pro-life and has voted to defund the Planned Parenthood abortion business in the past, he joined pro-abortion Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine along with 48 Democrats to kill the measure.

According to the Washington Examiner, pro-life vice president Mike Pence was working with Senator McCain and the final hours leading up to the vote to no avail.

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

Last month, the abortion chain Planned Parenthood finally released its annual report.

The report shows increases in abortion numbers and taxpayer funding in 2015, alongside decreases in contraception, breast exams and overall patient numbers.

Planned Parenthood continued to maintain its status as the largest abortion provider in the United States. The abortion group performed 328,348 abortions on unborn babies, 4,349 more than the previous year, according to the report.

At the same time, it saw 2.4 million patients, about 100,000 fewer than the previous year and about 500,000 fewer than five years ago. Contraception services, which the abortion chain touts as its primary service, also dropped from 2.94 million to 2.8 million during the past two years.

Meanwhile, the abortion chain received more taxpayer funding. The report shows Planned Parenthood receiving $554.6 million, up from $553.7 million the previous year. This increase occurred while pro-abortion President Barack Obama was in power.

This pattern is consistent with its annual reports from the past several years. Abortions and taxpayer funding keep going up, while patient numbers and other services go down.

A recent congressional investigation into the abortion business involving its sales of aborted baby parts concluded with lawmakers recommended that Congress defund it. Planned Parenthood also has been caught in numerous scandals involving Medicaid fraud and failures to report suspected sex trafficking and sexual abuse of minors.

Earlier this year, Planned Parenthood leaders refused an offer to receive an increase in taxpayer funding if they stopped doing abortions. CEO Cecile Richards called the offer “obscene and insulting,” making it very clear that abortions – not women’s health care – are what really are important to Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood claims it is an essential provider of women’s health care, but its own annual reports show it continues to center its practices around aborting unborn babies.

President Donald Trump promised to sign a bill that would defund the Planned Parenthood abortion business.

Recent polls also indicate Americans support the defunding efforts. New polling found 56 percent of Americans in battleground states want Planned Parenthood defunded.

ACTION: Contact U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Contact Senator Susan Collins.

The abortion company has also been exposed for selling the body parts of aborted children. The expose’ videos catching Planned Parenthood officials selling the body parts of aborted babies have shocked the nation. Here is a list of all 14:

  • 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.
  • The 12th video in the series shows new footage of Jennefer Russo, medical director at Planned Parenthood in Orange County, California, describing to undercover investigators how her abortion business tries to harvest intact aborted babies’ bodies for a local for-profit biotech company and changes the abortion procedure to do so.
  • The 13th video: exposes a Planned Parenthood medical director admitting that babies born alive after abortion are sometimes killed.
  • The 14th video: catches Planned Parenthood executives discussing gruesome abortion procedures and the sale of body parts from aborted babies for profit.