WASHINGTON - A divided House has voted to cut off Planned Parenthood's federal funds for a year.
The House approved the measure Friday by a nearly party-line 241-187 vote.
This comes after video conversations between alleged whistle blowers and the organizations executive board members discussing the sale of fetal tissue were leaked.
Those videos have helped extend the longtime fight over abortion into a prominent issue for next year's elections.
Abortion opponents say the tapes show Planned Parenthood illegally profited from tissue sales. Planned Parenthood says it's acted legally and says the tapes were deceptively edited.
Tennessee Congressman Diane Black was one of the backers of the bill to temporarily defund the organization for a year while the investigation into the video's continue.
“Look we're not talking about whether it's legal to have an abortion. We're talking about whether they've broken laws in the way in which they're doing these abortions. And so my bill simply puts a moratorium on the funding of Planned Parenthood until Congress has an opportunity to be able to do the investigations, to either determine that there are laws that are being broken or there are not,” said Black.
The bill has little chance of enactment. Senate Democrats have enough votes to block it, and it faces a veto threat from President Barack Obama.
