To most people, the word “reconciliation” means settling a fight. In Congress, it means starting one! This seldom-used budget process has become the center of attention for weeks, as GOP leaders try to tackle two of the most controversial uses of government money: Planned Parenthood and ObamaCare. Although reconciliation isn’t used often, it is a powerful tool for the majority party to jump some of the procedural hurdles in the Senate on budgetary issues.

Unlike regular order, reconciliation fast-tracks the debate by setting a lower threshold for passing a measure in the Senate: 51 votes versus the 60 normally required. Since Republicans don’t have enough votes to single-handedly topple the president’s health care law or pull the plug on the half-billion taxpayer dollars for Planned Parenthood, reconciliation is the GOP’s best shot. While reconciliation can’t be used to repeal all of ObamaCare or completely end sever ties with Cecile Richards’s group, it’ll go a long way to accomplishing both. Even if President Obama vetoes the measure, a majority of Congress will have spoken. For once, the White House will stand alone in its extreme support of the health care law and Planned Parenthood.

As early as [today], the House will be taking the first pass at this strategy when a floor vote is held on the “Restoring Americans’ Health Care Freedom Reconciliation Act” (or H.R. 3762). Unfortunately, not everyone is on board with the plan, including some outside conservative groups. They argue that reconciliation doesn’t go far enough. Letting the perfect be the enemy of the good, they claim that nothing but a full repeal of ObamaCare should even be considered. Polling shows that a majority of Americans dislike the government takeover of health and would like nothing more than to say good riddance. Right now, there aren’t enough votes to make that happen — which leaves reconciliation as the best and most viable option. Congressional Quarterly explains it this way:

“A Senate rule named for the late Robert Byrd (D-W. Va.) permits challenges to reconciliation bills on several grounds, including if they could add to the deficit in the years outside the 10-year budget window. A separate concern, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) said, is the parliamentarian’s interpretation as to whether certain language in the reconciliation bill makes it lose its privileged status, which sets a simple majority vote threshold for consideration rather than the customary 60.”

Because reconciliation is an expedited process, the provisions are subject to very strict rules. One of them is that trying to tackle anything beyond the budgetary aspects of these two proposals jeopardize the entire effort. The fact that conservative Senators may wish the House bill did more — like repealing the premium subsidies in Obamacare — shouldn’t be used as an excuse to vote “no.” Instead, it should embolden conservative senators to offer amendments during the reconciliation debate to improve the bill’s ObamaCare repeal.

In the end, it’s important to get these two issues — a partial dismantling of ObamaCare and a partial end to taxpayer-funding of Planned Parenthood through the House and Senate and onto the President’s desk. If it succeeds, Congress can go back when the next President arrives and eliminate the rest.

Get out of Jail (Gender) Free!

California doesn’t have a Department of Corrections. It has a Department of Gender Corrections! Thanks to a new policy, the Golden State is actually rewarding people who don’t just break the state’s laws — but nature’s too. One of its many firsts, California just became the first state with a taxpayer-funded sex-reassignment surgery program for inmates.

After a legal tug-of-war, leaders announced that the state would fork over the money to cover reproductive organ reconstructions of convicted criminals — setting a dangerous precedent that will almost certainly be pursued by radicals in other states. “California has set a model for the country,” said one transgender activist. “This is care that, for too long, people have denied simply because of who they are. It’s especially important because transgender people are incarcerated at six times the rate of the general population.”

And it could be more — once they know free surgery awaits! With a price tag of anywhere from $50,000-$100,000, there’s no shortage of outrage over these criminals’ special treatment. On one hand, California is forcing churches to fund elective abortions, and on the other, it’s forcing taxpayers to finance an expensive surgery for lawbreakers! No wonder the Left wants to control health care! It’s one powerful way to advance their radical agenda.

Meanwhile, the liberal extremists are proving exactly why health care should be left to individuals and the private sector. Left to its own devices, the market would never drive demand for something so illogical. As our own research confirms, the best thing we can do for people struggling with gender identity is to help them — not enable them. Otherwise, we’re only sentencing them to a life-term of misery.

This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.