President Obama vetoed a bill that would have repealed key provisions in the Affordable Care Act and defunded Planned Parenthood for one year on Friday.
The bill was sent to the president’s desk on Wednesday after it was passed by the House of Representatives, 240 to 181. Prior to the House’s vote, the bill was passed in the Senate on Dec. 3, 2015.
[RELATED: Senate Passes Bill Repealing Obamacare Provisions, Defunding Planned Parenthood]
The vote in the House was largely along party lines, with Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) being the only Democrat to vote for the bill, and Reps. Bob Dold (R-Ill.), Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) and John Katko (R-N.Y.) the only Republicans to vote against it.
In response, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that although Congress passed the bill, it ultimately will have no effect on Obamacare.
“They’ve voted 60 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act. This is the first time that it has reached the president’s desk, but it has no impact,” Earnest said during a press conference Thursday.
HR 3762, the Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015, sought to repeal Obamacare provisions including the requirement for most people to obtain healthcare coverage, the expansion of Medicaid, and the taxes imposed on income, insurance policies and medical devices that were required to fund Obamacare.
The bill would have also put an end to the nearly $450 million given to Planned Parenthood for at least one year. While the Senate did vote on over a dozen amendments to the bill, they rejected two amendments that would have given money to Planned Parenthood.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) noted the significance of such a bill reaching the President’s desk after five years of being struck down by Democrats. While he did not say what the Republicans would replace it with, he claimed that a Republican president in 2017 would seek out “a truly patient-centered healthcare system.”
“This budget reconciliation bill, which would reduce the federal deficit by a half trillion dollars, forces the president to confront the failures of Obamacare head on,” Ryan said. “But most importantly, it clears the path to repealing this law with a Republican president in 2017 and replacing it with a truly patient-centered health care system. We will not back down from this fight to defend the sanctity of life and make quality health care coverage achievable for all Americans.”