WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) voted against legislation that would repeal the Affordable Care Act and deny federal funding to Planned Parenthood facilities across the country:

“The Affordable Care Act has provided thousands of people in Maine and millions more across the country with affordable, high-quality health insurance,” Senator King said. “Rather than try to take that away, Congress should focus on how we can improve and strengthen the law so that we can extend health insurance to even more people in this country who need it. That’s how we best serve the people who sent us here and, frankly, they deserve nothing less.”

Today, the Senate voted and, regrettably, passed legislation that would repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The President has said he will veto the bill. Today’s vote represents the 16^th time that the Senate has voted to repeal all or part of the ACA. The House of Representatives has voted more than 50 times to do the same. The Affordable Care Act provides more than 70,000 people in Maine with health insurance. In addition to lowering health care costs, the landmark health care law, which has been upheld by the Supreme Court multiple times, prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage to people due to pre-existing conditions, eliminates lifetime caps on insurance, and allows children to remain on their parents’ insurance until the age of 26. The law has also contributed millions of dollars in funding to community health centers across the state of Maine, which serve the health care needs of hundreds of thousands of people.

The legislation would also eliminate all federal funding to Planned Parenthood facilities across the country, including the four that operate in Maine, which provide important family planning, cancer screenings, and basic preventive health care services. Senator King voted in favor of an amendment offered by Senator Susan Collins that would have preserved the funding for Planned Parenthood. However, that amendment failed.

“To strip Planned Parenthood of federal funding is to deny millions of women and men basic health care services, many of whom are low-income and rely on the organization as their sole health care provider,” Senator King said. “Congress’s unfounded yet relentless assault on Planned Parenthood is simply another example of misguided outrage that would only hurt those who need help the most.”

Planned Parenthood operates four health care clinics in Maine. In fact, 97 percent of Planned Parenthood’s services have nothing to do with abortion and currently federal law already prohibits federal funds dedicated to the organization from being used in support of abortion-related activities. This is the third time this year that Senator King has opposed defunding Planned Parenthood, and in August, he delivered remarks on the Senate floor in defense of the organization.

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