Why the GOP Wants to Shut Down the Government Over Women’s Health
The last time Republicans shut down the federal government, they were furious that uninsured Americans were being offered access to affordable, comprehensive health insurance. Now, just two years later, there are rumblings about another shutdown, and this time the impetus is even more baffling: Far-right lawmakers in Congress want to stop federal funds from going to Planned Parenthood, where the money is used to subsidize contraception and other reproductive health care needs.
Congress members say they’re reacting to unproven allegations against Planned Parenthood that came to light in a series of “sting” videos released by an anti-abortion action group – among them, the claim that Planned Parenthood has been profiting from fetal tissue donation. In fact, House Republicans have tried for years to defund the reproductive health care provider, and have failed to do so session after session. This time, in order to strong-arm their fellow politicians into agreeing to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood, some Congress members are once more gambling with the lives of seniors, veterans and low-income families that rely on TANF and other federal benefits to meet their needs.
We’ve seen this process play out before. In October of 2013 the GOP, led by its Tea Party wing, rode a government shutdown for over two weeks, playing chicken by refusing to raise the debt ceiling and defaulting on government loans. The country lost about $24 billion in economic growth in the process, and Tea Party popularity fell to a new low. But voter memories are short. A year later, when midterm elections rolled around, the shutdown and its effects were all but forgotten, and the Republican Party not only held onto the House, but won a majority in the Senate, too.
Among the things people have forgotten about the 2013 shutdown was the massive gift it was to Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. In just those few weeks, Cruz managed to gather millions of email addresses and nearly $800,000 in donations from Americans who opposed the Affordable Care Act and supported his efforts to keep the government closed.
It’s no wonder that now, with his presidential campaign in full swing, Cruz is one of the most vocal advocates for shutting down the government again if any federal funding for Planned Parenthood is included in the new budget. Last month, Cruz reached out to tens of thousands of religious leaders to discuss his “ambitious 50-state campaign to end taxpayer support for Planned Parenthood,” as the Washington Post described it – a campaign that looks to be just as invested in prepping for local primary wins as it is in ending funding for the nation’s largest reproductive health care provider.
Cruz isn’t alone, by any means. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, another Republican presidential contender, is also vocally pushing the defunding bandwagon, though he stops short of wanting to shut down the government over it. Paul recently headlined a rally organized by the anti-abortion group Students for Life America in response to undercover recordings targeting Planned Parenthood. At the rally, he advocated for a separate stand-alone defunding bill, predicting Senate supporters wouldn’t have the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.