Republicans have come so close but are so far from defunding Planned Parenthood.
In a vote on Tuesday, Senate Republicans failed to gain 60 votes needed to pass the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The bill would have implemented a federal 20-week abortion ban with incredibly limited exceptions, Yahoo Health reported. The House passed it’s version of the bill last week.
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The Senate bill would have granted waivers for victims of rape and incest after mandated pro-life counseling and a 48-hour waiting period.
In total, 54 senators voted in favor of the measure including three Democrats: Sens. Bob Casey (D-Penn.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), and Joe Manchin (D-W.V.). Two Republicans voted against the bill: Sens. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine).
This was the first time such a measure had ever been brought up in the Senate.
Many Democrats, including Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) spoke out against the Republican-led proposal.
“As Republican leaders have said themselves, there is no education in the second kick of a mule — which is why it’s so disappointing that we are once again staring down a government shutdown over Republican political pandering. Let me be very clear: using shutdown threats to attack women’s health won’t work in 2015, just like shutdown threats didn’t help the Tea Party repeal the Affordable Care Act in 2013,” Murray said in a statement.
The vote comes amidst a looming government shutdown if a new budget cannot be approved by midnight of Sept. 30.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is leading the charge and has said he will not agree to any budget that does not end all federal funding to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider.
