WASHINGTON (AP) -- Vice President Mike Pence broke a tie Thursday on legislation to reverse an Obama-era rule protecting funds for Planned Parenthood and other family planning providers.
The GOP was forced to keep a procedural vote open for just over an hour after two Republicans senators, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski and Maine's Susan Collins, voted against moving ahead on the measure. During that time, the GOP got Pence to the Senate to break a 50-50 tie and cast the deciding vote.
He previously broke a tie on the nomination of Betsy DeVos to be education secretary.
Mallory Quigley, a spokeswoman for the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List, told Politico,“This is an opportunity to return to the people the right to prioritize how taxpayer dollars are spent."
She said Collins and Murkowski, who voted against the rule are, “missing out on the opportunity to stand up for comprehensive women’s health care.”
Late last year, the Obama administration issued a rule barring states from denying federal family planning funds to organizations like Planned Parenthood that also perform abortions. Republicans want to scrap the rule.
