The House failed Friday to override President Bush's veto of a bill that would have reversed the administration's ban on abortion counseling at federally funded clinics.
The Senate voted to override the veto Thursday, but the House vote, 266-148, fell 10 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass the bill over Bush's objections.The action continued Bush's unbroken string of 35 successful vetoes.
The House vote came just one day after the so-called gag rule regulations went into effect at some 4,000 clinics throughout the country.
The regulations prohibit health care workers at federally funded family planning clinics from informing pregnant women that abortion is an option or referring them to abortion clinics. However, doctors are permitted to counsel patients.