Later this evening (August 3), the United States Senate is expected to vote on an issue that has long since been a bastion of heated debate. Planned Parenthood, the non-profit organization focused on reproductive health for both men and women, has recently come under fire after a series of unflattering videos surfaced which allegedly show employees involved with the selling of fetal tissue. If true, that would be an infraction against their federal-funding mandate, which prescribes that the organization recover only its expenses to maintain its nonprofit status.

Planned Parenthood has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing, and the schism between conservative and liberal viewpoints on reproductive rights (including abortion) have rallied their respective cohorts around the issue of stripping the organization of its federal funding. The conservative supporters of the de-funding argue that Planned Parenthood is altering abortion services with the intention of collecting fetal tissue in its most desirable state, so that selling it is easier and more lucrative and therefore should not receive money from the government to run its operations. Planned Parenthood has accused conservatives of releasing selectively edited video footage as a means of galvanizing support around its Pro-Life sentiments.

According to an Associated Press article shared on Mashable earlier today, Monday’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.” Without funds allocated from the government, the organization is at risk of losing its ability to function, but defenders of Planned Parenthood 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.” Nevertheless, the threat of a drastic cut in funding looms ahead of this evening’s vote and those who stand to lose the most are the patients whom Planned Parenthood say they serve the most, “low-income women” where often times “no other alternatives exist.”

The issue has become so contentious that the chance of a government shutdown has been mentioned, including in an article published today by the Guardian. Featured prominently in the article are the views of Republican Senator Rand Paul, who argued that “if the federal budget was not approved because of a political issue such as abortion, the fault would lie with the White House,” effectively suggesting that a government shut down over abortion would be the fault of President Obama. Today’s bill was proposed by 24 Republican senators and while the bill is expected to be blocked by Democrats, Senator Ted Cruz (and Republican Presidential hopeful) suggested shutting down the government as a means to “force the issue.”

With the upcoming presidential election well under way and the first Republican candidate debate slated for this Thursday (August 6), what role should reproductive rights, including abortion, play in the discussion? Is Planned Parenthood the victim of a smear campaign or should they be held directly accountable for the content of the undercover videos?

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