Senate bill to end Planned Parenthood funding blocked

The U.S. Senate has blocked a Republican effort to shut off federal funds for a national abortion provider organization.

“The time has come to have a full-throated debate about this, and the time has come to end all taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood. It’s about time we had a debate in our country about this, and it’s about time we said enough is enough," Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) said.

“If this bill went into effect, blocking our health centers from serving patients who rely on publicly funded programs for health care, millions of people would struggle to access quality reproductive health care — period,” Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said.

"An organization that so callously reduces our most vulnerable to spare parts for sale has no business receiving any money from the federal taxpayers," Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) said shortly before the vote.