Showdown set over Planned Parenthood

Republicans likely will lose today’s Senate showdown over halting federal aid to Planned Parenthood, but the political offensive has just started,

WASHINGTON — Republicans will likely lose today’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.

Five things to know:

The battleground

Citing statements in the videos by Planned Parenthood officials, opponents including the Center for Medical Progress, which recorded the videos, accuse the group of profiting from selling fetal organs. That would violate a federal criminal statute that lets providers recover only their expenses. They also say Planned Parenthood is altering abortion procedures to better recover usable tissue.

Conservatives view the videos as a huge political opportunity to galvanize support for banning abortions and, some hope, prohibiting fetal tissue research. But the issue is cutting both ways, with both sides using it for fundraising solicitations.

Planned Parenthood has apologized for comments in the video but says it has broken no laws. It accuses opponents of using selectively edited videos for their latest assault on abortion and women’s health choices.

What Planned Parenthood does

There are roughly 1 million U.S. abortions yearly. In its most recent annual report, Planned Parenthood said it performed 328,000 of them.

Planned Parenthood and its supporters have sought to shift the focus, saying abortions represent just 3 percent of the 10.9 million services the organization provides annually in nearly 700 clinics.

The group says its yearly workload includes 4.5 million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted diseases; 3.6 million contraception procedures and devices; 1.1 million pregnancy tests and 900,000 cancer tests and treatments.

The Senate bill

Today’s vote is on barring federal aid to Planned Parenthood and shifting the money to other health care providers.

That’s big money for Planned Parenthood. It says of $1.3 billion in revenue last year, $528 million came from taxpayers, including state funds that help finance Medicaid.

Planned Parenthood defenders say cutting federal aid wouldn’t affect the abortions it provides because federal money cannot be used for abortions except for cases of rape, incest or when a woman’s life is in peril. Opponents say squeezing money from Planned Parenthood makes it choose between spending its remaining funds on abortions or other services.

A tricky issue

Abortion’s battle lines are clear for some politi- cians but dicey for many.

The GOP has bumbled the issue recently, including Missouri GOP Senate candidate Todd Akin’s 2012 comment on “legitimate rape” that probably sealed his defeat. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, is sponsor of the Senate bill, a female face Republicans hope will blunt repeated Democratic accusations that the GOP is waging war on women.

Many Democrats have distanced themselves from the video’s remarks. Many are choosing their words like Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who says of Republicans, “They’re attacking women’s health.”

The next fight

Some Republicans say they won’t vote for spending bills keeping the government open starting Oct. 1 with any Planned Parenthood funds.

Many conservatives are itching for that fight. “Show me a Democrat who’ll force a shutdown over selling baby parts,” said Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., who says dozens of GOP lawmakers will join him in opposing bills with Planned Parenthood money.

But GOP leaders are reluctant to force a shutdown fight that could haunt them in the 2016 elections, as are some presidential candidates.

Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican seeking the GOP nomination, said: “I support any legislation that will defund Planned Parenthood. But I don’t think you start out with your objective to shut down government.”