Icon (Close Menu)

Logout

Arkansas Senate Backs Planned Parenthood Defunding Measure

1 min read

LITTLE ROCK – The Arkansas Senate has voted to cut off public funding to abortion providers and entities that perform abortion referrals, a move aimed at blocking grants Planned Parenthood has received for sex education programs.

The measure approved by the Senate on a 26-5 vote Monday doesn’t specifically name Planned Parenthood and is identical to a proposal that stalled in the Legislature two years ago. The bill now heads to the House.

The proposal does not apply to Medicaid funding, and would also bar any public funding going toward “affiliates” of abortion providers or entities that perform referrals. Opponents of similar restrictions in the past have said it could threaten money that domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers and doctors receive if they refer women to abortion providers.

(Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, broadcast or distributed.)

Send this to a friend