Â鶹ŮÓÅ

Rising conservative anger against Planned Parenthood is upending congressional GOP leaders’ plans to avoid a government shutdown when federal funding runs out at month’s end. Republicans in full control of Congress for the first time since 2006 are eager to keep the government running when the next fiscal year starts on Oct. 1. But they face mounting resistance from some House Republicans who won’t vote for any government funding bill unless it cuts off funding for Planned Parenthood. Their opposition follows a string of videos purporting to show the group profiting from the sale of fetal tissue to medical researchers. Planned Parenthood has denied the allegations. (Peterson and Armour, 9/8)

Federal funding for Planned Parenthood will clearly be a flash point when Congress returns this week from its summer break. But the fate of many other health programs, from the National Institutes of Health to efforts to reduce teen pregnancy, hang in the balance as well, as lawmakers decide whether and how to fund the government after the current fiscal year expires Sept. 30. (Rovner, 9/8)

A prominent abortion foe is accusing Planned Parenthood of violating federal laws barring for-profit sales of fetal tissue, while a defender of the group says it's done nothing illegal as Congress begins long-awaited hearings that are already weaving accusations, emotion and politics. Clandestinely recorded videos show that Planned Parenthood "violates various federal laws," and only banning research using fetal tissue from abortions or abortion itself "will prevent the inevitable abuse," James Bopp Jr., general counsel for National Right to Life, said in testimony prepared for Wednesday's House Judiciary Committee hearing. (9/9)

An influential conservative group is calling on Republican presidential candidates to vow they will veto any future funding for women's healthcare provider Planned Parenthood, which is under fire from abortion opponents. In a letter seen by Reuters that is being sent to all party hopefuls in the 2016 White House race, the ForAmerica advocacy group asks candidates to make "a firm commitment" to starve Planned Parenthood of federal funding. (Gibson, 9/8)