Sitting on President Barack Obama’s hypothetical desk is a repeal bill that would not only defund the abortion corporation Planned Parenthood Federation of America but also would repeal many portions of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.
With a House vote of 240 to 181, the Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015 (HR 3762) also was passed in the Senate in December 2015.
Symbolic action
Sponsored by Rep. Tom Price, R-Georgia, HR 3762 comes at a pivotal time in the 2016 election season and is in part a symbolic action meant to highlight ideological differences between both sides of the political party, according to news sources.
The bill would strip Planned Parenthood of 89 percent of its federal funding for one year. The abortion corporation has been under attack after undercover videos were released in 2015 showing the organization’s leaders admitting to making a profit from selling fetal tissue, something leadership later denied.
An earlier version of the bill was passed in October 2015, amended by the Senate in December and approved by the House again Jan. 6.
The amendments include repealing large sections of Obamacare, including the mandate for employers with more than 50 workers to provide insurance to employees.
The bill also would increase funding to community health centers, remove the mandate for individuals to purchase health insurance and repeal the tax on over-the-counter medications, among other things.
President Obama, however, has already said he will veto the bill and has until Jan. 16 to do so. The House, according to news sources, is expected to override the veto. It takes two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House to override a presidential veto.
Even if President Obama does veto the bill, pro-life activists say the vote that passed the bill in the House and Senate is important because it shows a similar bill could make its way to the desk of a pro-life president in 2017.
Other supporters
Leading pro-life groups also have said they support the bill, including Susan B. Anthony List, Family Research Council, National Right to Life, March for Life (see story, page 5), Concerned Women for America, Operations Rescue, American Life League and others.
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