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House Votes to Block Planned Parenthood Funds


Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., walks to the House chamber on Capitol Hill for a vote to block Planned Parenthood's federal funds for a year, Sept. 18, 2015.
Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., walks to the House chamber on Capitol Hill for a vote to block Planned Parenthood's federal funds for a year, Sept. 18, 2015.

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have passed a measure that would end government funding for Planned Parenthood for a year. The 241-187 vote Friday was divided along party lines.

The bill is not expected to pass in the Senate, and President Barack Obama has said he would veto any bill defunding the group.

The bill was sparked by secretly recorded videos showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing selling tissue from aborted fetuses for medical research.

Abortion opponents say the tapes show Planned Parenthood illegally profited from tissue sales. The organization says it has acted legally and the tapes were deceptively edited.

Most of the organization's $450 million yearly in federal money, a third of its budget, comes from Medicaid reimbursements for treating low-income clients, and virtually none of it can be used for abortions.

The House also approved a bill that would impose criminal penalties of up to five years in prison plus fines on doctors who do not attempt to save babies born alive during abortions. That measure also faces a Senate defeat and presidential veto.

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