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Congress To Send Bill To President That Repeals Provisions of Obamacare, Defunds Planned Parenthood

By  //  December 9, 2015

BILL FACES CERTAIN VETO BY OBAMA

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By a 52-47 vote, the U.S. Senate passed a fast-track measure Thursday designed to unravel key provisions of the ACA and defund Planned Parenthood for one year.

The U.S. Senate approved legislation last Thursday to repeal  the Affordable Care Act (ACA, aka Obamacare), President Obama’s signature legislative achievement, and defund Planned Parenthood.

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Though congressional Republicans have voted on similar legislation a multitude of times, this measure is likely to be the first one to make it to President Obama’s desk, where it would certainly be met with a veto pen. (C-Span Image)

Although there has been ongoing legislative rhetoric about repeal of the ACA, as well as several legal challenges to specific aspects of the law over the past 5 years since it was passed, this will be the first bill to reach Obama’s desk that would revoke key provisions of the law.

The 52-47 Senate vote on the bill, known as a budget reconciliation measure and expected to be rubber-stamped by the House of Representatives this week, was mostly along party lines.  The GOP-led congress knows full well that the passage of the bill in Congress is symbolic because President Barack Obama is expected to veto it.

Nevertheless, the proponents of the bill will be fulfilling a promise to their base by laying the groundwork to effectively decimate Obama’s 2010 healthcare reform law using a legislative strategy based on Senate rules and precedents, which would make it easier to repeal Obamacare under what they hope to be a Republican president in 2017. (Herszenhorn, New York Times 12/3; Fram, AP, 12/3; Snell, Washington Post, 12/3)