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Senate Republicans said on Thursday that they would take up legislation outlawing all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, and the House voted to move forward with a bill that would end government financing for Planned Parenthood, intensifying a fight over abortion that threatened to paralyze budget talks and force a government shutdown at the end of the month. (Herszenhorn, 9/17)

Republican leaders hope House passage of bills targeting Planned Parenthood and curbing some abortion procedures will mollify fractious conservatives demanding a face-off with President Barack Obama that could trigger a federal shutdown. The GOP-run chamber was on track to approve the two measures Friday, despite White House veto threats and opposition from most Democrats. One would block Planned Parenthood’s federal funds for a year. The other would inflict criminal penalties on doctors who don’t try saving infants born alive during abortions. (Fram and Taylor, 9/18)

President Barack Obama "strongly opposes" and would veto a pair of House bills that would strip federal funds from Planned Parenthood and impose new restrictions on abortion, the White House said in a statement on Thursday. The administration said the GOP-backed bills "would have the same consequence of limiting women’s health care choices." The Planned Parenthood bill, in particular, would cut access to health care services for as many as 630,000 people, the Congressional Budget Office estimated Wednesday. (Bassett, 9/17)

House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz is setting up a battle of wills with a federal judge in California over unreleased footage in the sting operation against Planned Parenthood. Chaffetz has subpoenaed David Daleiden, the anti-abortion activist behind the videos, to turn over all of his footage on the women’s health organization. But U.S. District Court Judge William H. Orrick has already blocked Daleiden from releasing some of the tapes, particularly anything filmed at a National Abortion Federation conference. (Haberkorn, 9/17)

Mr. Boehner of Ohio was elected speaker on the House floor in January with the most opposition in a speaker election since 1923. Since then, a series of fights over spending bills, President Barack Obama’s immigration policy, and the nuclear deal with Iran have generated further friction with his party’s right flank. This month, conservatives angered by videos showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing fees for procuring fetal tissue for medical researchers have tangled with GOP leaders over whether to use a must-pass spending bill as leverage to seek to strip federal funding from the women’s health organization. Such a move could lead to a stand-off resulting in a partial government shutdown if no stopgap spending measure is passed by the Oct. 1 start of the next fiscal year. Rep. Matt Salmon (R., Ariz.) said conservatives are watching Mr. Boehner and that his behavior this month will affect his standing among House Republicans. (Peterson, 9/17)