Although a majority of senators voted to defund Planned Parenthood in today’s vote, it wasn’t enough to advance the bill to defund the abortion giant. Of the 60 votes needed, the bill earned 53, with 46 opposing it. Practically support stands at 55 votes with Graham absent and McConnell voting no for procedural reasons to retain the ability to bring the bill up again in the future.
However, the fact that a bipartisan majority voted to defund Planned Parenthood shows its declining support.
Important note: lost this vote procedurally, but a BIPARTISAN MAJORITY of the US Senate voted to #DefundPlannedParenthood.
— Charmaine (@CharmaineYoest) August 3, 2015
Senate voted 53-46 to defund #PlannedParenthood. Last time it voted on #defundPP just four years ago, it only got 42 votes. Huge progress.
— Billy Valentine (@valentinebilly) August 3, 2015
53-46. First time #defundpp bill has ever passed in senate. McConnell voted no to preserve opp to vote again later. Graham didn’t vote.
— Jill Stanek (@JillStanek) August 3, 2015
However, there are 18 Republicans who have already announced that they will not support any federal budget that includes Planned Parenthood funding, so the battle is not over. In fact, this vote serves as a positive sign to many of the shifting tide surrounding the abortion profiteer, which has been the subject of multiple investigations and state-level defunding. Today’s vote was disappointing, but not surprising to most.
Ultimately, Democrats Joe Donnelly (IN) and Joe Manchin (W-VA) voted to defund Planned Parenthood, revealing more truth that the issue of selling baby body parts is not a partisan issue, but a human rights issue.
Notably absent from the vote was South Carolina Republican presidential hopeful Lindsey Graham, who decided not to vote because he was busy on the campaign trail, running as a pro-life candidate for president. His fellow candidates, Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Marco Rubio (R-FL), managed to vote.
The only Republican to vote against the bill was Senator Mark Kirk (IL).
