Rand Paul’s Planned Parenthood Bill Halted — But He’s Not Letting It Go

Rand Paul says it is unacceptable that his attempts to attach a rider defunding Planned Parenthood to a highway bill have failed, and that he will “use every Senate rule” to try to force a vote on the matter. Paul has been declaring his intentions to stop Planned Parenthood by any available means since a heavily edited video of a director of the program went viral. Friday morning, he says he learned that his first attempt had failed — but he’s not backing down.

According to the Blaze, a Rand Paul spokesperson confirmed that he had used certain Senate rules to fast-track his bill to a vote — a bill that would strip all federal funding from Planned Parenthood.

You may be aware of the Planned Parenthood video that started Rand Paul on his mission. Though it was edited to appear as though the speaker admitted to illegally selling aborted fetal tissue, Planned Parenthood has explained that it is not illegal to donate tissue, nor to be reimbursed for reasonable costs, such as transportation.

Still, Rand Paul isn’t the only one who has condemned the organization following the video, not only for the content, but for the tone of the director as she spoke casually of work that may be routine in the medical community, but can be jarring for the general public. (Much of the same shock could likely be created by showing a video of surgeons or nurses speaking over lunch — conversation that might be reasonable lunch chat in the medical industry just isn’t likely to be comfortable to those who don’t deal with death, blood, and body parts on a daily basis.)

Rand Paul, though, is one of the several who seem to not only be offended by the casual tone, but to insist on ignoring the edited nature of the video. Though there is a legal line between selling tissue for profit and recouping some of the costs connected with procuring, preserving, and delivering said tissue, Paul is among those who choose to ignore that line and continue to refer to “selling” tissue.

On his Facebook page Friday, lamenting the failure of his attempt to attach the defunding to an unrelated highway bill, Paul said, “Like most Americans, my jaw hit the floor when I saw the undercover video footage of Planned Parenthood’s chief abortionist explaining how they harvest aborted babies’ organs and sell them for profit.”

He continued, “The more I learn about Planned Parenthood’s racket, aborting unborn children and then selling off their organs, the more my head spins.”

With regard to the decision not to attach the Planned Parenthood defunding to a highway bill, Paul said, “As far as I’m concerned, this is flat-out unacceptable. And I’m not going to stand for it. Instead, I’m prepared to use every Senate rule at my disposal to force my colleagues on record whether they like it or not.”

Though Rand Paul seeks the Republican presidential nomination, he has billed himself as a Libertarian, and this latest move has pro-choice voters rethinking whether he deserves that label.

Rand Paul hasn’t stated what upcoming bills he’d like to saddle with the Planned Parenthood defunding, but he has made it clear that this is a high priority for him, and that he plans to push this agenda by any means available.

[Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]