GOP's Brown Raps House Vote vs. Planned Parenthood

Three Republican senators are speaking up in support of Planned Parenthood, with Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts becoming the latest to criticize House GOP efforts to defund the birth control and abortion rights organization, the Washington Wire blog of The Wall Street Journal reports.

Sen. Scott Brown says House went too far in eliminating funding. (Getty Images Photo)

A House vote to eliminate Planned Parenthood funding for fiscal 2011 “goes too far,” Brown said Tuesday. Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska also want Planned Parenthood back in the federal budget when debate resumes.

A short-term budget agreement that keeps the government running also contains money for Planned Parenthood’s non-abortion family-planning services. But that deal expires April 8, and anti-abortion lawmakers in the House promise to derail any future stopgap spending packages if they include Planned Parenthood funding, a stance that puts the House and the Senate on a collision course.