On Thursday night, the United States Senate voted by a margin of 52-47 to repeal huge swaths of the Affordable Care Act as well as to remove all federal funding from Planned Parenthood. The two proposals were included in an overall bill that was dealing with budget reconciliation. The vote just needed a simple majority of 51 senators to vote for it for the legislation to pass Senate approval.

Not only was funding for Planned Parenthood eliminated, but Republicans claimed to make good on a promise they made to the American people to begin the process of nullifying the Affordable Care Act. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) remarked that the Republicans continue to stand united against what they see as a deeply flawed Affordable Care Act, according to The Washington Post.

It is considered quite likely that President Obama will immediately veto the bill and it is uncertain if the Senate has the votes to over ride his veto. While the Senate vote was carried through, many analysts see the move as hurting the Republicans in the next Senate elections especially in those states where the Democrat party has been making significant gains. Only two republicans voted against the measure.

U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-Penn.) remarked that, “Recently we have seen horrific videos further demonstrating that Planned Parenthood has an appalling disregard for human life. While I support women’s health, there is no reason why taxpayers should be providing hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies each year to this organization.”

The Republicans seem content with the vote if, for no other reason, it puts every United States Senator on record regarding Planned Parenthood and the Affordable Care Act during an election year. An amendment that was proposed by Democrats with regard to instituting stronger restrictions on citizens being able to own guns was not passed and included in the present legislation.