SOUTH BURLINGTON — Peter Welch says he’s concerned that in two weeks a group of congressmen he describes as the “radical wing” of the Republican Party will once again trigger a government shutdown.
This time the brinksmanship is over federal funding for the women’s health nonprofit Planned Parenthood. A group of 28 Republican House members say they will seek to block the passage of any budget bill that includes money for Planned Parenthood.
Congress must pass a budget in the next 14 days or the federal government will cease operations as happened in 2013 during a pitched battle over the Affordable Care Act. That would have costly and negative impacts, Welch said.
Videos released this summer and fall by the anti-abortion group Center for Medical Progress led to an outcry from pro-life politicians and activists. It also sparked the current “ideological battle” being waged by a small number of congressmen to end federal support for Planned Parenthood, Welch said.
The group posed as a biotech firm looking to obtain fetal tissue from Planned Parenthood. The videos are heavily edited and have drawn criticism for being misleading. Planned Parenthood apologized for a top official’s “tone” in the videos, but allegations that they show illegal activity are unsubstantiated.
Selling fetal tissue for a profit is against the law, but Planned Parenthood says it only charges what is necessary to cover the cost of preserving and transporting the tissue.
The videos have renewed controversy over the ethics of using fetal tissue from abortions in medical research. It has also placed Planned Parenthood in the crosshairs of social conservatives, and recently led to a failed Senate vote on eliminating the nonprofit group’s funding.
Welch said he found portions of the videos, as well as the idea of fetal tissue donation, to be “distressing,” but he believes that concern is outweighed by the potential of researchers to advance medical science and cure disease. While it may be controversial, fetal tissue research is sanctioned by the government, he said at a news conference Thursday at Burlington International Airport.
Reasoned debate on fetal tissue research and abortion has its place, Welch said, however, linking the funding for a women’s health organization to a government shut down is bad for democracy.
Planned Parenthood receives $500 million, from the federal government, mostly through Medicaid, and by law that money can’t go toward abortion services. The vast majority of Planned Parenthood’s services aren’t related to abortions, and involve preventive care such as cancer screenings, birth control, sexually transmitted disease testing and counseling.
Welch said that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, is in a difficult position, because he would prefer to pass a budget relying solely on the Republican majority. A small group of ideologically motivated Republicans are using that as leverage over the speaker to attach a “poison pill” rider, or amendment, defunding Planned Parenthood, Welch said.
The last government shutdown lasted 16 days and cost the U.S. $89 billion, according to Welch. Ultimately Boehner threw obstructionists in his party “overboard” that time, by partnering with Democrats to pass a budget. Welch said this time he hopes Boehner won’t wait until there’s a shutdown to reach across the aisle.
“I empathize with the speaker,” he said, but Boehner needs to “put America first.”
For Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE), which serves Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, abortion services comprise about 7 percent of its operation, according to Megan Gallagher, the chapter’s president and CEO.
PPNNE does not engage in fetal tissue donation, but the videos are having a negative impact in the region, Gallagher said.
The New Hampshire Governor’s Council, a five-member elected body that serves as a check on the governor’s power, voted 3-2 along party lines to defund its contracts with Planned Parenthood. The group lost $600,000 as a result, which won’t halt operations but makes providing services more difficult, Gallagher said.
She called on Congress and local officials to stop playing politics with women’s health and praised Welch for his support.
