GOP leaders in the U.S. Senate have put the brakes on Kentucky Senator Rand Paul’s latest maneuver to defund Planned Parenthood.
The Bowling Green lawmaker released a video on Tuesday announcing he had introduced an amendment to a Labor and Health and Human Services appropriations bill with the goal of halting all federal funding for any entities that perform abortions, including Planned Parenthood.
"Those providers affected by the amendment would also be eligible to have their funding restored if they stop performing abortions in the future," Paul explained in the brief online update.
Planned Parenthood receives public funding from two sources: Medicaid and Title X, a federal family planning program. Current law already prohibits federal funding of abortions, except in the cases of rape, incest, or to protect the life of the mother.
The Washington Examiner reports Republican leaders worried the Bowling Green senator’s amendment would prove too controversial. A Senate push to defund Planned Parenthood in 2017 healthcare bill last year collapsed after facing major Democratic oppositon and failing to reach a required 60-vote threshold.
