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 White House hopeful Senator Rand Paul introduced an amendment to a
highway bill Wednesday that would cut the nearly $500 million in
taxpayer funding that goes annually to Planned Parenthood.
"Not one more taxpayer dollar should go to Planned Parenthood and I
intend to make that goal a reality," Paul said.
Republican Representative Diane Black introduced a bill on Tuesday
that would place an immediate moratorium on all federal funding for
one year while Congress investigates the group's practices. Eighty
lawmakers signed on as co-sponsors.
The videos show Planned Parenthood officials discussing ways to
perform abortions to preserve fetal tissue for research and the
costs involved. They were secretly recorded by anti-abortion group
Center for Medical Progress.
 Planned Parenthood says it does not profit from fetal tissue
donation and only receives payment for associated costs, which is
legally permissible.
"It just troubles me that you would sell body parts," Politico
quoted Jeb Bush, a leading candidate for the Republican nomination
for the 2016 election, as saying.
"Congress has every right to investigate these abuses, because
(Planned Parenthood) receives $500 million dollars from the federal
government," former Florida Governor Bush said during a visit to a
crisis pregnancy center in South Carolina.
He stopped short of calling for the group’s funding to be cut but
urged a review of federal spending, particularly of organizations
with "a very deep political agenda."
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Two senior Republican lawmakers asked the Department of Justice to
review how it enforces abortion regulations and detail actions it
has taken to enforce the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, a 2003 law
that bans late-stage abortions.
Asked whether her department would open an investigation, U.S.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch said: "At this point, we are going to
review all the information and determine what steps, if any, to take
at the appropriate time."
Supporters of Planned Parenthood say the videos are the latest
attack in a decades-long campaign against it. The organization
focuses on family planning and pregnancy prevention, with abortions
comprising 3 percent of its services, according to its website.
About 40 percent of Planned Parenthood's funding comes from
government health services, grants and reimbursements, which
includes Medicaid managed care plans.
(Additional reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir in Washington and Alana
Wise in New York)
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