House GOP begins effort to defund Planned Parenthood

The House kicked off a wrestling match over the fate of Planned Parenthood with a Judiciary Committee hearing today that captured the intensity flaring on both sides of the abortion debate since the release of a series of investigative videos.

In his opening statement, Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said the videos by the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) sparked the committee’s investigation. The videos, which show Planned Parenthood directors discussing the trade of aborted tissue for experimentation, raised questions about the legality of Planned Parenthood’s actions and whether federal law sufficiently protects unborn babies, Goodlatte said.

“The committee is aggressively seeking answers to these questions, but there is no question that the videos are deeply disturbing on a human level,” he said.

He also addressed criticism from Democrats who have accused CMP of unethical filming tactics. CMP does not receive any federal funding, he noted, while Planned Parenthood receives hundreds of millions of dollars a year from the government. Congress must, “do what we can to ensure federal taxpayers are not contributing to the sorts of horrors reflected in the undercover videos,” he said.

The hearing featured testimony from two adult survivors of abortion and experts from the pro-life and pro-abortion camps. Representatives from Planned Parenthood and CMP did not testify.

Committee members made emotional speeches about their positions on abortion, echoing many of the arguments made last month when the Senate debated the issue. The Senate voted 53-46 in favor of ending federal funding for Planned Parenthood, but fell short of the 60 votes required to move the bill forward. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform have both said they will schedule hearings on the issue this month.

Knowing direct action to defund Planned Parenthood probably won’t succeed in Congress and definitely won’t survive a presidential veto, some Republicans have suggested refusing to pass any spending bills that include funding for the nation’s largest abortion provider. If enough conservatives dig in their heels, they could force a government shutdown this fall, something House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, is reportedly working to avoid.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.