Congress Passes FY 2011 Continuing Resolution; Amendments To Defund Planned Parenthood, Health Reform Law Fail

April 15, 2011 — Congress on Thursday approved a fiscal year 2011 continuing resolution bill (HR 1473), ending the long-running debate on federal funding for the remainder of the current fiscal year, the Washington Post reports (Kane/Rucker, Washington Post, 4/14). The measure drew bipartisan support in both chambers with a 260-167 vote in the House and an 81-19 vote in the Senate. President Obama has pledged to sign the bill (Carter/Lesniewski, CQ Today, 4/14).

After passing several stopgap resolutions in an attempt to reconcile differences among House Republicans, Senate Democrats and the Obama administration, lawmakers late last week announced that they had reached a tentative agreement to cut nearly $38 billion in spending for FY 2011, averting a shutdown of the federal government. Lawmakers agreed that the bill would not include policy riders to defund Planned Parenthood and the federal health reform law (PL 111-148) and, instead, agreed to hold separate votes on each of those issues. The agreement included a rider preventing the District of Columbia from using local funds to pay for abortion services (Women's Health Policy Report, 4/14).

The House voted 241-185 to approve the provision to block federal funding for Planned Parenthood, and 240-185 to approve the provision to withhold funding for the health reform law. Both measures failed in the Democratic-led Senate (Adams, CQ HealthBeat, 4/14).

While opponents of Planned Parenthood have remained focused on emphasizing the group's provision of abortion care, supporters say lawmakers' vote against the amendment to defund Planned Parenthood aims to protect preventive health services the group's clinics provide, Politico reports.

On Thursday, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) referenced Sen. Jon Kyl's (R-Ariz.) recent erroneous remark that abortion care represents 90% of Planned Parenthood's services. Kyl's office later said that the remark "was not intended to be a factual statement." Gillibrand said, "For my friends and colleagues, this is a factual statement. Current law already prevents federal money from paying for abortions. This has been the law of the land for over 30 years. Shutting down the government for a political argument is not only outrageous, it is irresponsible. The price for keeping the government open is this assault on women's rights."

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told Politico, "Planned Parenthood plays an important role in providing services for women. They provide thousands of cancer screenings every year and they provide family planning services for low-income and at-risk women and right now we do not have a system in place that would replace those vital services" (Kliff, Politico, 4/15).