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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Republicans should not use a must-pass government spending bill to defund Planned Parenthood, despite increasing pressure from conservatives who want to use a threat of a shutdown to target the embattled women’s health group. In a wide-ranging news conference with reporters Thursday, McConnell warned of the consequences for Republicans if the party triggers a government shutdown over a controversial policy dispute, like the GOP did with Obamacare in 2013. (Kim, 8/6)

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) on Thursday beat back suggestions that a fight over federal funding for Planned Parenthood would end in a government shutdown this fall, putting him at odds with the conservative wing of the Republican base as the issue spreads into the presidential race. (Hughes, 8/6)

Planned Parenthood Federation of America has been thrust into a political fracas following the release of five undercover videos by an antiabortion group that show Planned Parenthood officials discussing obtaining fetal tissue for research. Republicans are seeking to halt federal funding of the organization, though an attempt in the Senate was blocked. (Armour, 8/6)