House GOP Passes Budget Including Funding for Planned Parenthood, Obamacare
The Republican-majority House of Representatives on Thursday passed a $1.047 trillion bill funding the federal government through March 2013 that will permit funding for Planned Parenthood and ObamaCare–including the regulation that took effect on Aug. 1 that will require virtually all health plans in the United States to cover, without fees or co-pay, sterilizations and all FDA-approved contraceptives, including those that induce abortions.
The vote was 329-91, and the bill now goes to the Senate for expected approval next week.
The bill funds the government for six months into the new fiscal year and for almost five months after the November elections. Congress turned to the stop-gap measure after failing to pass any of the 12 appropriation bills necessary to fund day-to-day government operations.
The Catholic bishops of the United States have unanimously declared the Obamacare sterilization-contraception-abortifacient regulation an “unjust and illegal mandate” that violates the right to free exercise of religion not only of Catholic institutions but also of Catholic business owners and workers.
The bill, a continuing resolution (CR), does not prohibit funding for either ObamaCare programs or Planned Parenthood. Nor does it stop the government from enforcing regulations, such as the mandate from the Health and Human Services Department that nearly all health insurance plans provide contraceptives, sterilizations, and abortion-inducing drugs free of charge.
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