Planned Parenthood Videos Aftermath: Senate Leader Mitch McConnell Dismisses Government Shutdown Idea Over Planned Parenthood
Although Republicans have banded together in a renewed effort to criticize Planned Parenthood, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., declared that he will not condone another government shutdown in order to defund the women's health group.
The pro-choice nonprofit has been under fire since a right-wing anti-abortion group released videos that allegedly show Planned Parenthood doctors discussing the sale of aborted fetal tissue.
The organization claims that the videos show their representatives engaging in the legal practice of collecting fetal tissue to be donated for medical research once they have a patient's consent. The group also says the workers in the heavily edited videos were discussing reimbursement for the costs incurred for donating the fetal tissue.
Nonetheless, following the release of undercover sting videos, a group of GOP senators unsuccessfully tried to pass a bill to strip the group of its federal funding. Some Republicans, including 2016 presidential hopefuls Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, have even called on the GOP to hold the government hostage in order to defund Planned Parenthood, reports The Huffington Post.
However, Sen. McConnell declared that his Party will not execute a government shutdown on his watch.
"We've been down this path before," said the GOP leader on Thursday, according to The Washington Examiner. "This is a tactic that has been tried going back to the '90s and it always has the same ending -- that the focus is on the government shutdown and not on the underlying issue that is being protested."
McConnell added that he intends to continue to speak out against Planned Parenthood without posing the threat of a looming government shutdown.
"We are not doing government shutdowns and we are not threatening to default on the national debt," he said.
The last time Congressional Republicans shut down the government was in 2013 during their attempt to stop the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. After their efforts failed, many Americans blamed them for causing unnecessary commotion.
"There's an old Kentucky saying that there's no education in the second kick of a mule," McConnell said.
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