Barbra Boxer Breaks it Down

The U.S. Senate has voted down a proposal that would have denied federal money to any family planning clinic that provides abortions as part of its services. Although the law already prohibits the use of federal money to pay for abortions, many women's health clinics do receive federal funds that allow them to provide a variety of family planning services to low-income women. Yet, some conservatives would like to deny any funding to these clinics. According to the Associate Press:

By a 52-41 vote, the Senate rejected a proposal by Sen. David Vitter, R-La., to stop funding health clinics, Planned Parenthood and other providers of reproductive health services if they use money from nonfederal sources to perform abortions.

"His amendment will do nothing to reduce abortions," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. "It will make contraceptives harder to get, so it will increase the number of unintended pregnancies."

Cheers, Senator Boxer! Thanks for helping us avert a crisis.