The Obama administration’s regulation was designed to make sure abortion providers could continue getting Title X money.

It prohibits states from preventing money from going to certain organizations for reasons other than their ability to provide “Title X services.” These services might include counseling on contraception and STD prevention. Miscellaneous restrictions “hinder the program’s statutory mission,” the regulation argues, and adversely affect women and families.

President Obama Speaks at the Planned Parenthood Gala:

The people at Planned Parenthood who love to abort babies loved Barack Obama. Watch video to find out why…

This regulation was always a clear target for Republican members of Congress. It was issued in late December of 2016, after Democrats had lost the election; it places restrictions on states; and it protects abortion clinics. Congress has the legal authority to overturn regulations it dislikes under certain conditions, and this one came up early in this year’s session: 10 days after Inauguration, a resolution was introduced to overturn the HHS rule. The House easily passed it in February. And on Thursday, the Senate passed it as well.

The Senate’s vote wasn’t nearly as straightforward as the House’s. There were two Republican defectors: Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Maine’s Angus King and Vermont’s Bernie Sanders, both independents, also voted against it. No Democrats voted in favor of overturning the regulation. In the end, with 50 senators on each side and a simple majority needed to resolve the question, Vice President Pence was the one who decided it: As the president of the Senate, he has the authority to cast a vote in the case of a tie.

While the legislation has not yet been signed by the president, it seems clear that the White House supports it. After all, the second-in-command made a special trip to the Senate chambers just to see it through. This resolution doesn’t do anything to Planned Parenthood immediately, and future attempts could, unlike this bill, be subject to a Democratic filibuster. But it clears the way for more legislative action—and the inevitable attempts ahead to defund the abortion giant and other providers. source