House Vote Spares Family Planning Aid

In a surprising defeat for anti-abortion forces and their allies in the Republican leadership, the House on Wednesday rejected a proposal to abolish the federal government’s principal family planning program and transfer the money to state block grants.

The program, which provides grants to clinics around the country, survived on a 221-207 vote, with 53 Republicans joining 167 Democrats and one independent in the majority. The House then voted, 224 to 204, to reinstate $193 million in family planning funding.

The program provides no money for abortions and has enjoyed broad bipartisan support for most of the quarter century since it was founded. But it has drawn criticism from abortion opponents because many clinics that receive family planning aid also provide abortion counseling and services, even though they do not use federal funds to do so.

The fight, which came during debate on a major appropriation bill, opened deep divisions within the GOP between the conservative anti-abortion majority and moderate Republicans who support family planning and abortion rights.

“This is one of the most successful programs in the history of our nation,” said Rep. Jim Greenwood (R-Pa.), who led the fight to preserve the program.

But Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.) called for abolishing the program in an effort to “defund the abortion industry.”

Those intraparty divisions could resurface and threaten final approval of the entire appropriation bill, which is expected to come to a vote today. A key question is whether conservative Republicans will defect because of the family planning vote and join Democrats in opposing the bill, or whether they will stay on board because of other anti-abortion provisions.

The family planning vote marked the second time in less than a week that a coalition of Democrats and moderate Republicans managed to defeat the House’s conservative leadership. Last week, a similar coalition defeated a proposal to strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its power to enforce key anti-pollution laws. That was a short-lived victory, however, because the GOP leadership forced a second vote Monday that reversed the outcome.

However, one GOP leader said that there probably would not be an attempt to reverse the family planning vote because the margin of defeat was so wide and the issue so emotion-laden.

“This vote was over a serious, heartfelt issue that members feel strongly about,” said House GOP Conference Chairman John A. Boehner (R-Ohio).

The outcome showed that the GOP majority in the House has given anti-abortion forces clout but that conservative leaders may have overreached in trying to overturn the popular family planning program, which is supported by some abortion opponents who see it as a way to help prevent unwanted pregnancies.

The issue flared during debate on an appropriation bill that is a centerpiece of Republican efforts to scale back social spending and rein in the reach of the federal government.

The bill provides about $61 billion in non-entitlement spending for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education--down about 10% from current levels. It would abolish dozens of education and health programs and slash spending for dozens of others.

The legislation also includes far-reaching non-budgetary provisions that would limit the power of the National Labor Relations Board and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration. An effort to strip those and other non-budgetary provisions from the bill failed on a 270-155 vote.

The family planning provision was just one of several measures backed by anti-abortion forces that were included in the bill.