Planned Parenthood funding at grave risk after Senate ruling

Republicans are on the cusp of a breakthrough in their long effort to strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood after a Senate ruling Monday.

Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough advised lawmakers that a provision that would cut off Medicaid funding for one year to the women’s health organization and abortion provider can remain in the GOP’s domestic policy megabill without threatening its ability to be passed along party lines, according to Senate Democrats.

The megabill is expected to clear the Senate Monday or Tuesday using a budgetary tool to bypass a 60-vote filibuster. Bills advanced with that tool must adhere to strict budget rules, and the parliamentarian is the de facto arbiter of those rules. Senate Democrats had challenged whether the provision was allowed.

“Republicans will stop at nothing in their crusade to take control of women’s bodies,” said Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon in a statement.

Conservative lawmakers have sought to strip Planned Parenthood’s eligibility for federal funds for decades. It has long been subject to the Hyde amendment, which bans federal funding directly on abortions, but the organization bills Medicaid for nonabortion services and receives other federal funding through other programs and grants.

Republicans sought to target the group in their party-line 2017 push to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but the overall effort collapsed.