Senate skips vote on Planned Parenthood funding

In this Sunday Jan. 23, 2011 file photo, Bryan Howard, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Arizona, Inc., stands out in front of a Planned Parenthood facility in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

The Arizona Senate on Thursday skipped a scheduled to vote on a bill to bar Planned Parenthood from receiving public funding through the state for non-abortion health services.

Senate approval would complete legislative action on the bill already approved by the House.

Arizona already prohibits using tax dollars for abortions except to save the woman’s life. But supporters say the bill is needed to cut off indirect funding for Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood says the bill would interrupt preventative health care for thousands of low-income women served by its clinics, particularly in rural areas.

The New York-based Guttmacher Institute says six other states prohibit abortion providers from receiving family planning money through those states.

Guttmacher says court orders make laws in three of those states temporarily unenforceable.