Senate Bill to Defund Planned Parenthood Fails

The piece of legislation angled at federally defunding Planned Parenthood failed in Senate Monday morning, with critics of the bill arguing that the abortion organization also provides other health services to women in the U.S.

Senate Bill 1881 failed Monday evening to receive the necessary 60 votes that would override the Democratic filibuster that attempted to block a debate of the legislation. The bill, sponsored by Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, sought to take the taxpayer money previously reserved for Planned Parenthood and instead give it to other women's health care providers that do not carry out abortions.

The bill was introduced following the release of four videos from the Center for Medical Progress, two of which show Planned Parenthood executives discussing the costs associated with the procurement and donation of fetal body parts.

The videos resulted in backlash among lawmakers who argued that the abortion provider should be defunded.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz previously said that Democrats should ask themselves if they should be supporting "continued taxpayer funding for an organization that has been caught on film, apparently repeatedly admitting multiple felonies -- to buying and selling body parts."

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest countered the argument that Planned Parenthood is profiting off of the donation of fetal body tissue last week, describing the recent videos as "entirely inaccurate."

"There's ample reason to think that this is merely the tried and true tactic that we have seen from some extremists on the right to edit this video and selectively release an edited version of the video that grossly distorts the position of the person who is actually speaking on the video," Earnest recently said.

"Any review of the policy that Planned Parenthood says they implement indicates the views expressed in the videos, or at least the way they're pictured on the videos is entirely inaccurate," he added.