The bill barring federal taxpayer funds was approved in the last Congress. On Thursday it passed 242-179, with three Democrats joining virtually all House Republicans to support the bill. GOP Rep. Richard Hanna of New York was the one Republican who voted against it.
Earlier on Thursday, the White House promised to veto the legislation if it ended up on the President’s desk.
The vote came as tens of thousands of anti-abortion rights activists descended on the National Mall for the annual “March for Life.” Thursday’s event coincides with the 42nd anniversary the of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision which upheld a woman’s access to abortion based on privacy rights in the Constitution.
READ: House GOP leaders cave on abortion bill
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“I’ve heard the name Renee Ellmers once every 20 seconds this morning on the mall,” he said.
She issued a statement after Thursday’s vote saying she still was still discussing bringing the 20-week abortion bill ban bill back to the floor.
“Our goal is to find a way to get this legislation in its best possible form,” she said.
Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona, the author of the bill that didn’t get a vote, told reporters he was “disappointed” and said he was confident the measure would have passed. He said he didn’t question his leaders commitment to fighting for anti-abortion rights bills and said he had their “word of honor” the House would eventually hold a vote on it.
