In switch, Donnelly backs Planned Parenthood funding

WASHINGTON — Sen. Joe Donnelly voted this week to allow Planned Parenthood to receive federal funding, four months after being one of only two Senate Democrats to back a measure to strip the organization of federal dollars.

The Indiana Democrat said he changed his position because Planned Parenthood announced in October it would stop taking reimbursements for supplying tissue from aborted fetuses to medical researchers.

He also said in a statement that Planned Parenthood “has not been found to be in violation of any federal laws.”

“I am committed to ensuring women have access to quality health care, like cancer screenings and wellness visits, and that our health care providers are in compliance with federal law,” he said.

Republicans moved this summer to block funding to Planned Parenthood after anti-abortion activists released undercover videos allegedly showing group officials talking about selling tissue from aborted fetuses.

Planned Parenthood has denied making any profit from the sale of fetal tissue.

Some governors, including Indiana’s Mike Pence, called for an investigation of clinics in their states. The Indiana State Department of Health said in July that Indiana’s clinics comply with state regulations.

After Donnelly voted in August to call up a bill that would strip Planned Parenthood of federal funding it receives each year, his campaign treasurer — former Indiana Lt. Gov. Kathy Davis — quit in protest. He said then that he couldn’t support funding until it was clear that all clinics in the country are in compliance with federal and state laws.

Donnelly supported a similar defunding measure in the House in 2011.

Donnelly voted Thursday with all Democrats, except West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, to remove from a budget bill language barring funding to Planned Parenthood.

After that amendment failed, Donnelly also voted with Democrats and two Republicans against the underlying bill, which also would dismantle key parts of the Affordable Care Act.

Donnelly has been pressured by both sides of the abortion debate in recent months. Indiana Right to Life on Friday criticized his latest votes.

“It was easy for Senator Donnelly to say he's pro-life, but when it came time for him to choose life over party politics, he chose party politics,” said Mike Fichter, president and CEO of Indiana Right to Life.

About two-thirds of Hoosier women who get contraceptive services at a publicly funded center do so through Planned Parenthood — nearly twice the national rate.

Planned Parenthood is already barred from using taxpayer money to pay for abortion, except in cases of rape, incest or when a woman's life is in danger.

Most of the federal funding Planned Parenthood receives comes from treating Medicaid patients. Most of the rest comes from the federal Title X program for family planning services.

Email Maureen Groppe at mgroppe@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @mgroppe.