GOP Sen. Dean Heller says he'll 'protect Planned Parenthood' — sort of

Sen. Dean Heller announced that he would “protect Planned Parenthood” during a town hall Monday. But the Nevada Republican, who is widely seen as one of the most vulnerable senators up for re-election in 2018, also repeated a series of talking points that seemed to contradict protecting the women’s health organization.

Heller and Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev. — who was also doing the town hall with Heller — were asked if they supported Planned Parenthood. Many Republicans in Congress and the White House have vowed to stop the government from reimbursing the organization for Medicaid services and cutting family planning funding because Planned Parenthood performs abortions.

“I support funding for women’s health care with Planned Parenthood being one of the outlets — not the exclusive one — but one of the outlets,” Amodei said to cheers from the crowd.

But when it was Heller’s turn he tried to balance on a tight rope.

The senator started by saying that Planned Parenthood and community health centers were important to providing women’s care. That statement was greeted by boos from the crowd. Republicans and anti-abortion activists often talk about community health centers as an alternative to Planned Parenthood because they don’t provide abortions. But critics point out that some of the places that have been listed as alternatives aren’t even health centers — lists have included dentist offices and food banks — or aren’t accessible in all the locations Planned Parenthood clinics are.

Later Heller said “I have no problems with federal funding for Planned Parenthood.” But when he was asked explicitly if he’d commit to protecting the organization’s funding at the federal level he responded: “We’ll continue to look at this issue.” The crowd broke into loud boos and chants of “no.”

A constituent pointed out Heller’s 2018 race and asked again whether he would preserve federal funding for the group. “I will protect Planned Parenthood,” Heller said.

“The issue isn’t whether or not they perform the funding and the care for women. I want to make sure that every women has an opportunity — my grandchildren, everybody — have an opportunity. The question of should federal funding cover some of the activities that occur in Planned Parenthood?” Heller said, likely referring to abortions.

Currently, federal funds are barred from being used for abortions because language called the Hyde Amendment — which has been renewed annually since 1976 — blocks Medicaid funds from being used for abortion services. Instead, Planned Parenthood and other organizations that perform abortions are only reimbursed for non-abortion related services.

“I don’t know if we’re going to agree on everything here,” Heller said. At this point the crowd was booing so loudly it was difficult to hear Heller’s exact reasoning.

Later Heller brought up the idea that states be able to determine how federal funding should be used, a response that garnered more boos from the crowd. President Trump recently signed legislation overturning a rule drafted by the Obama administration that would have barred states from disqualifying Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers from participating in federally-funded grant programs.

Planned Parenthood extracted what they liked from Heller's roundabout answer and quickly issued a statement with the subject line “At Reno Town Hall, Dean Heller Pledges to 'Protect Planned Parenthood.'”

If Heller really does vote to protect Planned Parenthood it would be significant. Republicans have a narrow majority in the Senate, 52-48, and can lose no more than two votes on any issue. And that’s even with using the vice president as a tie breaker.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has voted against legislation to defund Planned Parenthood in the past and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Ala., has previously expressed concerns. If Collins, Murkowski and Heller all voted against legislation to defund Planned Parenthood, it would fail in the Senate.