Sen. Rand Paul Will 'Try to Force a Vote' to Defund Planned Parenthood

Republican presidential contender Rand Paul said Sunday he will continue his effort to cut federal funding for the nonprofit women’s health group Planned Parenthood over a dispute regarding the treatment of aborted fetal tissue.

The Guardian reports:

Paul, a Kentucky senator on the libertarian wing of the Republican party, appeared on Fox News Sunday. He said: “I’m going to try to force a vote on this. I think the time is now to discuss whether taxpayer dollars should be going to such a gruesome procedure.”

Two videos have been released by an activist group, Center for Medical Progress (CMP), in an attempt to show that Planned Parenthood is breaking the law by selling fetal remains. The man behind the group, David Daleiden, has said 10 to 12 more videos will be released.

Planned Parenthood has categorically denied profiting from organ sales and accused the CMP of misleading the public with “highly edited” tapes and false charges. No illegal activity appears to have been caught on tape.

Also Sunday, Planned Parenthood’s president, Cecile Richards, said that clinics in fewer than five states were harvesting such tissue. She said fees for the material were never charged, only the costs of transferring it to research institutes.

“Women at a very few places are allowed to donate fetal tissue for life-saving research,” she told ABC News. “This is laudable, that women and their families choose to make available fetal tissue in order to save other folks.”

Among the several strategies Paul said he is pursuing is a so-called discharge petition that would require the support of a minimum of 16 more senators. His earlier attempt to pass a defunding amendment was blocked by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.