WASHINGTON, D.C., March 30, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – House Speaker John Boehner has told White House officials that GOP lawmakers in the lower chamber will not agree to remove a series of GOP-sponsored budget cuts, including one stripping federal funds for Planned Parenthood, from the budget bill, according to a Politico report Wednesday.
Capitol Hill appears headed for another stiff battle over abortion funding, which may even become the make-or-break issue in the budget battle, as it did in the long fight over the federal health care reform bill.
After weeks of pressure from both the pro-life and pro-abortion lobby, and vague reassurances from the GOP, Politico reported that Boehner said he wouldn’t give up the GOP’s top defunding priorities, including the Planned Parenthood cut.
But Democrats aren’t about to back down either: on Tuesday evening, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) confirmed that the amendment defunding Planned Parenthood was a “dealbreaker.”
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor this week ruled out another stopgap bill to extend negotiations, leaving Congress only days to agree on a Continuing Resolution to fund the government for the rest of the year.