As
Republicans slam Planned Parenthood, shutdown threatens
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[September 10, 2015]
By David Lawder and Lindsay Dunsmuir
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional
Republicans showed no signs on Wednesday of having a clear plan for
averting a U.S. government shutdown in three weeks over funding for
Planned Parenthood, though senior party leaders have made clear they
want to avoid that scenario.
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As has happened before, a shutdown on Oct. 1 would likely rattle
financial markets. But Republicans had little to say about this in
their remarks about the women's health group and conservatives'
demands that its federal funding be cut off.
After an hour-long, closed-door meeting of fellow party members,
House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said there were "no
decisions at this point" on the content of a stopgap funding bill
for the federal fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.
Boehner, speaking to reporters for the first time since returning to
Washington after a five-week summer recess that ended on Tuesday,
also could not say when he would bring a spending bill to the House
floor for passage.
The House has only seven legislative days before the Sept. 30 end of
the fiscal year and the expiration of federal funds, which would
trigger a shutdown.
With that deadline looming, passions were running high among
conservatives who want to cut off federal funding for Planned
Parenthood. Their demands follow the online release recently of
secretly taped videos that show technicians for the women's
healthcare provider handling fetal tissue following abortions.
The videos were produced and posted by an anti-abortion group, the
Center for Medical Progress, which alleges Planned Parenthood has
improperly sold fetal tissue for profit.
Planned Parenthood, which gets more than $500 million a year in
federal funds, has said it has done nothing illegal and has accused
the center of selectively editing the videos.
Exiting the closed party meeting, Republican Representative Trent
Franks of Arizona told reporters: "The bottom line is, if we don’t
protect these babies, Planned Parenthood will continue to murder
them and then extract their little body parts."
Representative Bill Flores described to reporters the dilemma he and
many of his fellow Republicans face. He said the overwhelming
majority of his Texas constituents want to cut Planned Parenthood's
funding but balk at the prospect of shutting the government down to
do it.
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FAMILIAR PATH
Republicans have tried before to undo federal programs they oppose
by attaching controversial legislation to must-pass spending bills.
For more than two weeks in October 2013, many federal programs
stopped after Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and others tried,
but failed, to kill President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare law
as part of a government funding bill.
Earlier this year, some Department of Homeland Security operations
halted when Republicans, again unsuccessfully, tried to overturn an
Obama executive action on immigration.
As Republicans huddled, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing
on the controversial Planned Parenthood videos.
Because the group gets federal funding, lawmakers are obliged "to do
what we can to ensure federal taxpayers are not contributing to the
sorts of horrors reflected in the undercover videos," said committee
Chairman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia.
(Reporting By David Lawder, Lindsay Dunsmuir and Richard Cowan;
Writing by Richard Cowan; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Jonathan
Oatis)
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