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A new study shows health disparities cost Texas billions of dollars; Senate rejects impeachment articles against Mayorkas, ending trial against Cabinet secretary; Iowa cuts historical rural school groups.

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The Senate dismisses the Mayorkas impeachment. Maryland Lawmakers fail to increase voting access. Texas Democrats call for better Black maternal health. And polling confirms strong support for access to reproductive care, including abortion.

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Rural Wyoming needs more vocational teachers to sustain its workforce pipeline, Ohio environmental advocates fear harm from a proposal to open 40-thousand forest acres to fracking and rural communities build bike trail systems to promote nature, boost the economy.

Pro-choice Groups Fight Back Against Planned Parenthood Defunding

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Monday, August 3, 2015   

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The U.S. Senate is set to vote today on whether to strip Planned Parenthood of $500 million in federal funding.

The vote comes in the wake of undercover videos made by a California-based anti-abortion group that show Planned Parenthood representatives discussing the provision of fetal tissue for research.

Kathy Kneer, president of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, says her organization supports fetal tissue research, which is legal as long as the provider is solely reimbursed for costs.

"There are no profits involved,” she stresses. “And they take that reimbursement and say we're selling fetal body parts. And it's a lie and a distortion of fact. They're willing to do anything to defund Planned Parenthood and make abortion illegal."

Politicians in many other states have called for investigations into Planned Parenthood, but California's Attorney General Kamala Harris says she plans to investigate the group that made the videos, because taping without consent in California is illegal.

Last week a federal judge halted the release of another video for that same reason.

Dr. Jennifer Kerns is an abortion provider, an assistant professor at the University of California, San Francisco, and a member of Physicians for Reproductive Health.

"Fetal tissue research is a longstanding area of research, and one that has consistently advanced science and medicine,” she points out. “Every member of society has benefited from treatment discoveries that have been made from this research."

Very little of Planned Parenthood's work involves abortion, and it does not use federal funds for the procedure.

Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein have both indicated they plan to vote against the bill to defund the organization.





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