Local News

Elizabeth Warren to GOP: ‘Do you have any idea what year it is?’

The Massachusetts senator roasted her Republican colleagues for their move to defund Planned Parenthood.

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) listens during a July 27 Senate hearing.

By Nik DeCosta-Klipa @NikDeCostaKlipa

August 5, 2015

1 minute to read

For nearly seven fuming minutes Monday, Elizabeth Warren could barely contain herself, berating Republicans for attempting to defund Planned Parenthood.

“I come to the Senate floor today to ask my Republican colleagues a question,’’ said the Massachusetts senator. “Do you have any idea what year it is? Did you fall down, hit your head, and think you woke up in the 1950s? Or the 1890s? Should we call for a doctor?’’

[fragment number=0]

Warren’s outrage was sparked by Senate lawmakers moving to strip federal funding from the reproductive health nonprofit, following videos released by an anti-abortion group that allegedly showed Planned Parenthood selling fetal tissue for profit.

Planned Parenthood provides fetal tissue to groups for research, but says they do not make money from the practice.

Republicans roundly denounced the videos as “shocking’’ and “disgusting.’’ But Warren said GOP lawmakers were trying to take advantage of the videos in their campaign to limit access to abortion and reproductive rights.

“The Republican scheme to defund Planned Parenthood is not some sort of surprised response to a highly edited video,’’ she said. “Nope, the Republican vote to defund Planned Parenthood is just one more piece of a deliberate, methodical, orchestrated right-wing attack on women’s rights.’’

The Senate vote to defund Planned Parenthood failed Monday 53-46, falling short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster by Warren and other Democrats.