Yet again, abortion politics threaten the fate of a well-intentioned piece of legislation in Congress.
House GOP leadership cancelled a vote scheduled Tuesday on a bill to mint a commemorative coin for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, as conservatives raised concerns about the organization’s ties to Planned Parenthood, National Journal reported. The coin would have raised money for the foundation’s breast cancer research, and the legislation had bipartisan support, having initially been backed by Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY).
Earlier Tuesday, Heritage Action issued an alert urging members to vote “no” on the bill, because it said in minting the coin the U.S. Treasury would be funneling $4.75 million to an organization that “notoriously funds abortion giant Planned Parenthood.”
The foundation’s relationship with Planned Parenthood has been a source of controversy before. In 2012, the announcement that the Komen foundation would end donations to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screenings brought a swift backlash, prompting a quick reversal of the decision.
A House GOP aide, speaking anonymously, told National Journal that leadership was “working to ensure that charitable organizations which receive funding from this legislation are 100 percent focused on diagnosing, treating, and curing breast cancer.”
