Desire to defund Planned Parenthood, ‘Obamacare’ reason Bachmann voted for government shutdown
In a webinar with anti-abortion rights activists Tuesday evening, Rep. Michele Bachmann said that she voted against the continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown because it didn’t defund Planned Parenthood and “Obamacare.” She called abortion the “watershed issue of our time” and said she’s prepared to fight “eyeball-to-eyeball” to defund Planned Parenthood in the next continuing resolution in two weeks.
Jul 31, 202024.4K Shares1.2M Views
In a webinar with anti-abortion rights activists Tuesday evening, Rep. Michele Bachmann said that she voted against the continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown because it didn’t defund Planned Parenthood and “Obamacare.” She called abortion the “watershed issue of our time” and said she’s prepared to fight “eyeball-to-eyeball” to defund Planned Parenthood in the next continuing resolution in two weeks.
The “Defunding Planned Parenthood: Urgent Nationwide Webcast,” observed by the Minnesota Independent, was hosted by anti-abortion rights group the Susan B. Anthony List.
“Abortion is the watershed issue of our time,” Bachmann said. “We shouldn’t have one red cent go for Planned Parenthood,” calling it an opportunity abortion rights opponents have not had before.
She said that GOP leadership thought cutting all funds to the group was too controversial to include in the continuing resolution, which passedin a 335-91 vote in the House Tuesday and was approved by the Senate today by a 91-9 margin.
“For me personally, there were a few of us who voted ‘no’ on the continuing resolution… because it did not defund implementing ‘Obamacare’ because, as you know, ‘Obamacare’ will allow for taxpayer-funded abortions for the first time in history of the nation.”
The Affordable Care Act — or, as Bachmann puts it, “Obamacare” — will not allow taxpayer funding for abortion services. Numerous nonpartisan fact-checkers have called that assertion false, including FactCheck.organd Politifact.
“The next time we vote on the continuing resolution we have to insist on defunding ‘Obamacare’ and defunding Planned Parenthood,” she said. “My opinion is there is a point where you draw the line in the sand and you have a hill where you die on. I think this is our issue.”
“We control the spending, and we are going to have to have an eyeball-to-eyeball fight,” she promised. “At some point you have to have a knock down, drag down fight. This is it.”
She concluded, “It’s just morally reprehensible on its face to force people, for whom this is a violation of our moral conscience, to force people to pay for other people’s abortions.”
Federal law contrastst Bachmann’s statement, however. The Hyde Amendment forbids federal money from paying for abortion. For Planned Parenthood, federal money pays for cervical cancer screenings, mammographies and testing for sexually transmitted diseases.
Bachmann wasn’t the only member of Minnesota’s congressional delegation to vote against the resolution; DFL Reps. Betty McCollum and Keith Ellison also cast “no” votes.
Hajra Shannon
Reviewer
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