Congress bracing for fight over Planned Parenthood

Oct. 5, 2015 Updated Mon., Oct. 5, 2015 at 9:38 p.m.

Kevin Graeler Correspondent

WASHINGTON − The fight over abortion rights and Planned Parenthood’s federal funding is expected to escalate this month as lawmakers continue to search for a budget agreement.

House Republicans plan to launch a special committee to investigate the nonprofit organization, which has come under fire after secretly recorded videos surfaced that appear to show employees selling fetal tissue. Planned Parenthood officials have denounced the videos, saying they’re heavily edited.

A hearing last week deepened the partisan divide when the head of the House Oversight Committee accused the organization’s president of spending millions of federal dollars on excessive travel and parties.

Washington state’s Senate delegation and other Democrats are calling for an end to the investigation. Sen. Patty Murray said GOP leaders are pandering in their efforts to defund the organization.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., said in a statement Saturday that every tool must be used to force leaders of the organization to defend their alleged practices. There needs to be an investigation to determine whether the organization violated laws, she said.

“The undercover videos featuring senior-level officials admitting unethical and potentially illegal practices should be of great concern to every American,” she said.

The latest effort to strip federal money from Planned Parenthood is not about the facts but rather political ideology, Senate Democrats wrote Friday in a letter to Republicans in both chambers of Congress.

“We understand that the House will soon have new leadership,” they wrote. “We urge you to use this change of guard as an opportunity to end the effort to create a special committee to investigate Planned Parenthood, put aside political attacks on women’s health, and use the committees you are entrusted with to focus on the work women, families and communities across the country sent us here to do.”

Legislation to stop funding the organization for one year recently passed the House on a party-line vote, but it never received a vote in the Senate before the end of the fiscal year.

The bill would shift funds from Planned Parenthood to other health facilities that offer similar services. In Washington, there are 12 health care clinics not connected to the organization that could provide vital services to women for every clinic Planned Parenthood operates, said Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash.

“Taxpayers should not be forced to allow their tax dollars to support the nation’s largest abortion provider when there are many alternative community health clinics that support women’s health without offending the conscience of the American people,” said Newhouse, who voted for the bill.

But current law already prevents federal funding for abortions at Planned Parenthood, and the money goes toward important programs like cancer screenings and immunizations, said Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., who voted against it.

Kevin Graeler, a student in the University of Missouri Washington, D.C., Reporting Program, works as a correspondent for The Spokesman-Review.

Local journalism is essential.

Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are tax deductible.

Meet Our Journalists

Jesse Tinsley

Meet Jesse Tinsley. As a certified drone pilot, this veteran Spokesman-Review photographer often can be seen capturing beautiful aerial photographs of our region. Sometimes though, the job requires getting down with the dogs.
Jim Meehan

Jim Meehan is no stranger to Zag Nation. As the lead writer covering the Gonzaga men’s basketball team, he tells the stories behind the game and gets fans a bit closer to their favorite players.
Molly Quinn

There is no artist in Spokane like Molly Quinn. Her whimsical style is instantly recognizable to readers of The Spokesman-Review. She has painted gorgeous illustrations that instantly elevate the journalism accompanying it. She brings to life the stories that defy photography. She makes our pages better.
Rob Curley

Spokesman-Review editor Rob Curley loves to talk with people and learn about their lives, whether it's a best-selling author or a stranger he meets downtown on his walk to lunch. It's that inquisitive nature combined with a playful sense of storytelling that helps make our newspaper different than most.