Senate To Vote Today On Planned Parenthood Federal Funding

Reuters: Planned Parenthood Fight Hits Congress, Wider Impact Unclear
Women's health group Planned Parenthood, under attack by anti-abortionists posting hidden-camera videos online, will be the focus of a partisan showdown on Monday in the U.S. Senate, with any wider influence on voters from the charge still unclear. Congressional Republicans are trying to cut off Planned Parenthood's federal funding. The effort followed the release of videos by the Center for Medical Progress, an anti-abortion group, that have reinvigorated America's abortion debate as the 2016 presidential campaign shifts into high gear. (8/3)

The Associated Press: Congress To Vote On Planned Parenthood Federal Aid
Republicans will likely lose Monday's Senate showdown over halting federal aid to Planned Parenthood. Yet the political offensive by abortion foes has just started, prompted by a batch of unsettling videos that has focused attention on the group's little-noticed practice of providing fetal tissue to researchers. Conservatives have long targeted Planned Parenthood, which provides health services, family planning and abortions in clinics across the country. The furtively recorded videos, with hair-raising close-ups of aborted fetal organs and Planned Parenthood officials dispassionately describing how "I'm not going to crush that part," have forced the group and its Democratic champions into a defensive crouch. (Fram, 8/3)

Fox News: Senate To Vote Monday To Defund Planned Parenthood, First Step In Renewed Battle
However, the effort appears to be another step in the effort by pro-life groups and others to restrict abortions and undermine Planned Parenthood, which provides health services, family planning and abortions in clinics across the country. ... Paul and other Republicans want the millions that go to Planned Parenthood given instead to community health centers across the country that provide similar services with the exception of abortions. (8/3)

Politico: Defund Planned Parenthood? Not So Easy
Republicans may find that defunding Planned Parenthood is harder than it looks. Even if they manage to overcome the political obstacles — big ones like a Democratic filibuster, a presidential veto, or a battle royale over shutting down the government —they may still collide with Medicaid law. The fight could leap from Congress to the courts. (Pradhan, 8/3)

The latest face-off in the Senate is part of a long-standing battle in Congress over federal funding for Planned Parenthood. In addition, fetal tissue research has also been a flash point  -

Kaiser Health News: Fetal Tissue Attack Is Latest Tactic In Long GOP Fight Against Planned Parenthood
Republican calls to defund Planned Parenthood over its alleged handling of fetal tissue for research are louder than ever. But they are just the latest in a decades-long drive to halt federal support for the group. This round of attacks aims squarely at the collection of fetal tissue, an issue that had been mostly settled — with broad bipartisan support — in the early 1990s. Among those who voted to allow federal funding for fetal tissue research was now-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky." (Rovner, 8/3)

NPR: Planned Parenthood Controversy Raises Questions About Fetal Tissue Research
A series of sting videos targeting Planned Parenthood is raising questions about the field of fetal tissue research. Companies who buy and sell such tissue defend their work. (Ludden, 7/31)

Reuters: Fetal Tissue Research Declining, Still Important
A political battle over the use of fetal tissue in medical research has been reinvigorated by the release of undercover videos targeting Planned Parenthood officials. But the controversy comes just as interest in the use of fetal tissue is dwindling, scientists said. Newer, less-controversial technologies, including the “reprogramming” of adult skin cells to create specific types of stem cells, have rendered fetal tissue less central — though still important — to medical research, they said. Dr. Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer of Advanced Cell Technology, said that much of the tissue needed for research "can now be generated in the laboratory." (Steenhuysen, 8/1)

In related news, a judge issued a temporary restraining order to block the release of secret videos recorded at meetings of abortion providers by the same anti-abortion activists responsible for other covert Planned Parenthood videos -

Los Angeles Times: U.S. Judge Halts Release Of Secretly Recorded Videos Of Abortion Providers
At the 2014 annual meeting of the National Abortion Federation, a network of abortion providers, officials from a company called Biomax Procurement Services checked in using their driver's licenses. They handed out brochures at their exhibition booth and traded business cards with the hundreds of other attendees. (Zarembo, 8/1)

The Associated Press: Judge Blocks Release Of Recording By Anti-Abortion Group
A federal judge has blocked the release of any recordings made at meetings of abortion providers by an anti-abortion group that previously revealed secretly recorded videos of a Planned Parenthood leader. Judge William Orrick in San Francisco issued a temporary restraining order Friday against the Center for Medical Progress hours after the order was requested by the National Abortion Federation. (Thanawala, 7/31)

Politico Pro: Anti-Abortion Videos More Powerful Than Past Planned Parenthood Attacks
Planned Parenthood has endured many attacks. But until now, none involved a meticulously planned, 30-month undercover operation that produced hundreds of hours of video purporting to show the organization profiteering from selling fetal body parts. (Kenen and Pradhan, 8/2)

The Hill: Abortion Providers Sue To Stop Release Of More Undercover Videos
The National Abortion Federation is asking a California court to block the release of secretly recorded footage that anti-abortion activists could use in their campaign against Planned Parenthood. The organization — which represents abortion providers nationwide, including those at Planned Parenthood clinics — filed suit Friday for a temporary restraining order against the Center for Medical Progress, which it said deceptively attended meetings where highly sensitive topics were discussed. (Ferris, 7/31)