(CNN) — House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday, Jan. 5, that Republicans will move to strip all federal funding for Planned Parenthood as part of the process they are using early this year to dismantle Obamacare.
Ryan made the announcement during a news conference on Capitol Hill. Congressional Republicans have tried for years to zero out all federal funding for Planned Parenthood because the group provides abortion services.
The issue helped trigger a 16-day government shutdown in 2013, and Democrats and President Barack Obama insisted any provision targeting the group be removed from a bill to fund federal agencies.
“This is a priority for the Republicans,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi Thursday afternoon.
“So I just would like to speak individually to women across America: this is about respect for you, for your judgment about your personal decisions in terms of your reproductive needs, the size and timing of your family or the rest, not to be determined by the insurance company or by the Republican ideological right-wing caucus in the House of Representatives. So this is a very important occasion where we’re pointing out very specifically what repeal of the (Affordable Care Act) will mean to woman.”
