By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Staff Journalist As of yesterday, 41 Senators have stated that they plan to block any spending bill that cuts Planned Parenthood funding, a number large enough to sustain a filibuster. The Hill is reporting that a group of 41 Senators sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and GOP leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) asking them to “stand with us against extreme proposals by some members of the House to eliminate support for women’s health and family planning programs and providers that service millions of women and families.” These proposals concern a House bill known as H.R. 1, a package of spending cuts passed in February which include amendments to defund Planned Parenthood and eliminate Title X family planning programs through which Planned Parenthood receives millions in taxypayer funds. Another amendment would codify the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of taxpayer money for abortion, but which currently has to be renewed every year.   Congress is trying to reach an agreement on this bill, which would fund the government for the remainder of fiscal year 2011. In the short term, it has been passing Continuing Resolutions (CRs) designed to keep the government running for short periods of time. As of today, the current CR only keeps the government funded through Friday, April 8. The 41 lawmakers are protesting the inclusion of the pro-life amendments, promising to “oppose the provision in the House-passed continuing resolution that cuts Planned Parenthood health centers off from federal funds used to provide cancer screenings, birth control and other preventative health care services to three million Americans every year.”   “Without access to these services, many of these women will be unable to get preventive screenings, be at far greater risk for diseases such as cancer and will face more unintended pregnancies,” they wrote.   The 41 Senators include 39 Democrats and two Independents, but several Republican senators have also joined the opposition to the House cuts. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) recently wrote a letter to Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) stating their belief that “Planned Parenthood provides vital services to those in need."    Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) has also said she would oppose elimination of Title X funding, and Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) has stated that he believes cutting Planned Parenthood funds goes too far. Opposition to the funding has been growing across the country, especially in light of recent undercover stings that revealed the abortion provider's willingness to provide cover for the sexual abuse of minors, and for falsely implying that their clinics provide mammogram services when they do not. "Planned Parenthood has been exposed as an organization that is willing to aid and abet those who traffic in underage prostitution and help child prostitutes obtain illegal abortions. And yet Planned Parenthood received almost $350 million in taxpayer funds in 2008 alone while performing over 324,000 abortions," writes Tim Wildmon of the American Family Association. "It is obscene for Americans who find abortion morally repugnant to be forced to subsidize this organization with their tax dollars. It makes us all complicit in the shedding of innocent blood that occurs in these clinics." He is calling upon concerned citizens to contact their representatives today and ask them to vote "No" on any CR that does not defund Planned Parenthood. Click here for your representative's contact information. © All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace®  http://www.womenofgrace.com