WASHINGTON -- On Monday, Alaska's senators will get the chance to stake out a position on whether the federal government should be funding Planned Parenthood.
The measure -- which would defund the hotly debated health-care organization -- isn't expected to make it out of the upper chamber next week. But the vote sets the stage for a budget battle in September, when Congress is up against the clock to figure out a funding solution for the government.
Planned Parenthood got $528 million from the federal government in the last fiscal year, though none of that may be spent directly on abortions, which the organization provides among its health-care and family planning services.
Opposition to any federal funding for the group has gained significant steam on Capitol Hill since an anti-abortion advocacy group began releasing a series of secretly-recorded videos of Planned Parenthood doctors discussing the sale of fetal tissue and organs obtained from abortions. Planned Parenthood said the videos, by the Center for Medical Progress, are heavily edited and denied it makes any profit from selling the tissue for research.
The fight came to Alaska last week as dozens rallied to push Congress to eliminate funding for the organization.
Alaska's newest senator, Dan Sullivan, a Republican, supports stripping the group of federal funding. He's cosponsor of the bill that will come up for a vote on Monday.
But Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, isn't saying which way she'll go. She declined requests to comment.
Last week's rally in Anchorage was led by Alaska Sen. Mike Dunleavy, who is considering challenging Murkowski in the Republican primary. She's up for reelection in 2016. She lost the GOP primary to a candidate to her right, Joe Miller, in 2010 before overcoming in a write-in campaign during the general election.
The Planned Parenthood vote puts Murkowski is in a tough spot. In 2012, she caught a lot of backlash at home for a vote in favor of an amendment allowing health insurance providers to opt out of covering the cost of contraceptives on religious grounds. Within days of the vote, Murkowski told the Anchorage Daily News that she regretted her decision, saying, "I think I made a mistake."
"A lot of Alaska women will be watching Murkowski's vote on Monday," said Kay Brown, executive director of the Alaska Democratic Party. "Her vote will be a litmus test for the type of campaign Murkowski will run in 2016. Will she stand up for women and do the right thing, or vote to appease a Republican base that abandoned her in 2010?"
Murkowski and Sullivan have split ways before on social issues. Recently, Murkowski expressed support for the Supreme Court ruling backing gay marriage, while Sullivan expressed dismay with the decision. He has also cosponsored legislation adding restrictions to abortion.
Many of those pushing to eliminate Planned Parenthood funding have coalesced on the message that it's not the only place for women to receive low-cost medical care.
The bill up for a vote Monday would redistribute Planned Parenthood's half a billion dollars in funding to other community healthcare centers.
The GOP has noted that Alaska has 168 community health centers, while Planned Parenthood has five facilities in Alaska -- in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Soldotna, Juneau and Sitka.
"We can provide quality healthcare to women without losing our humanity. That's what this bill is about," Sullivan said in a statement to Alaska Dispatch News. He said the recent videos "shocked this country's collective conscience and have caused public outrage about taxpayer dollars going to fund Planned Parenthood."
Jim Minnery, head of conservative Alaska Family Action, said the group appreciates Sullivan "taking a real hard stand" on the issue. The country is "at a tipping point" on this issue, Minnery said.
"I think ultimately federal funding is going away for Planned Parenthood," Minnery said. "The reality is that there are lots of other health clinics around the state … that could provide those same services that Planned Parenthood provides."
David Daleiden from the Center for Medical Progress said Thursday that there should be an "immediate moratorium" for taxpayer spending on Planned Parenthood during state and congressional investigations into Planned Parenthood's activities.
It's Planned Parenthood's many non-abortion services that its supporters are most vocal about losing. Abortion represents 3 percent of the group's total services, for about 10 percent of its clients, according to the organization.
Anchorage resident Zhenia Peterson, 22, an advocate for Planned Parenthood, says its preventive health services are especially important for Alaska, where sexual assaults and some sexually transmitted diseases occur at the highest rates in the nation.
The organization's focus on preventative care and education is important in a state where many young people "don't understand basic human anatomy," she said. "They really make sure to take those steps to help educate and prevent any unwanted pregnancies."
"The issue is more personal for me because of my childhood," Peterson said, explaining that she lived in an orphanage in Russia from age 6 to 11 until she was adopted by American parents. If her mother "had access to reproductive health, she would have been more able to take care of my sister and I," Peterson said. "If she had had a little bit more help, I would still be with her right now ... I love being in America. I love my adoptive parents," she said. But she believes "that more children should not be in the situation that I was in."