“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) used a procedural move to let the House bill skip over the Senate’s committee process and be placed directly on the Senate calendar, where it could be teed up for action on the floor,” The Hill reports.
While the legislation hasn’t been scheduled yet to be brought up on the Senate floor, the Republican leader told reporters that the chamber will take up the reconciliation package after Thanksgiving. Lawmakers are heading out of town for a week-long recess, and they’ll return to Washington on Nov. 30.
The bill would block, for one year, most federal payments to Planned Parenthood. At least 89% of federal funding of Planned Parenthood would be blocked by this bill. The bill would repeal a number of major components of the Obamacare health law, including two of the major provisions that will lead to rationing of lifesaving care — the “Independent Payment Advisory Board” and the “excess benefits tax.”
Dozens of leading pro-life groups have already indicated their support for the bill, including the National Right to Life Committee. In a letter to members of Congress that NRLC provided to LifeNews.com, the group indicated it strongly supports the bill to de-fund Planned Parenthood.
(link to article and contact info. for Republican Senators considering a "no" vote)