A Senate effort to defund Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest provider of abortions, failed Monday, but the defeat for abortion opponents could morph into a new battle between the conservative base and the GOP elite over a core issue for many on the right.

That means presidential candidates will begin leaping in, too.

The release last week of a fourth shocking undercover video exposing Planned Parenthood’s ties to fetal organ trafficking finally spurred action in Congress. (A fifth video was released Tuesday morning, after the vote.)

Some Planned Parenthood opponents in the Senate want to strip the organization of its roughly $528 million annual federal funding. But after procedural moves by all but two Democratic senators and one GOP senator, Mark Kirk of Illinois, the measure was blocked from reaching a final vote in the Senate.

“The Senate just voted against promoting and protecting human life,” Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., fumed after the motion failed.

The turn of events raises the question of how hard Republican leaders in Congress are willing to fight on the issue.

Lawmakers return from a month-long break in early September and will have just a few weeks to reach an agreement on continued funding for most government operations. Senate conservatives have pledged to bring the fight to defund Planned Parenthood to that negotiation, potentially sowing the seeds of a federal shutdown.

“Although the effort … failed tonight, this should not deter us in the fight to eliminate taxpayers’ funds being used to bankroll the abortion industry and what appears to be the ongoing criminal organization of Planned Parenthood,” Sen. Ted Cruz said.

“Although the effort … failed tonight, this should not deter us in the fight to eliminate taxpayers’ funds being used to bankroll the abortion industry and what appears to be the ongoing criminal organization of Planned Parenthood,” Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said. “I encourage my colleagues to continue to fight to defund this organization that places more value on the sale price of babies’ body parts than it does on the sanctity of human life.”

Despite that resolve, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, has pledged to prevent any government shutdowns this year. Earlier, McConnell orchestrated the bargain that ended a Department of Homeland Security funding impasse, but that also included a capitulation to Democrats allowing the president’s executive amnesty to survive. It’s a move seen by most conservatives as betrayal.

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The commitment of another establishment Republican to defunding Planned Parenthood also seemed up in the air Monday when he missed the vote. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a lower tier candidate for president, held campaign events in New Hampshire rather than attend the defund fight.

“I wholly support the defunding of Planned Parenthood today and in the future,” Graham said in a statement on Monday. Yet his absence may be a departure from urgency by conservatives to more establishment Republican figures on defunding the abortion giant.

Democrats on Monday tried to resurrect the old charge of Republicans pursuing a “war on women,” charging them with a transparent attempt to gut health care for women.

“It is our obligation to protect our wives, our sisters, our daughters and our granddaughters from the absurd policies of a Republican Party that has lost its moral compass,” said Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada.

But most Republicans forcefully defended the move, pointing out a hole in the Democratic argument that the GOP plan would simply divert funds from Planned Parenthood and send the money to other agencies that support women’s health efforts.

McConnell accused Democrats of trying to aid a political ally.

“Instead of subsidizing a political group, this bill would ensure funds continue to flow to community health centers and hospitals that provide more comprehensive health services — and have many more facilities nationwide,” McConnell said.

Five videos have been released now by a pro-life group, the Center for Medical Progress, in which actors posing as potential buyers of fetal organs secretly filmed top Planned Parenthood officials discussing the demand for hearts, lungs and livers.

Republicans said those videos demonstrated “an institutionalized disregard for human life.”

“At the basic level of decency, we are repulsed by these videos because science and reason inform our consciences and lead us to the inescapable conclusion that lives are being ended through this exploitation,” said Moran.

“At the basic level of decency, we are repulsed by these videos because science and reason inform our consciences and lead us to the inescapable conclusion that lives are being ended through this exploitation,” said Moran. “If individual organs and tissue can be harvested from aborted babies, it is impossible to make the case that this is not a human life that is being destroyed.”

Planned Parenthood has apologized for the inappropriate “tone and statements” of its officials in the videos, but has denied wrongdoing.

At least three congressional investigations are being launched to probe possible criminal activity by Planned Parenthood. The House Energy and Commerce and Judiciary committees are each considering hearings, as is the Senate Judiciary Committee. Planned Parenthood leaders could still be summoned to testify at any hearings, a Senate committee aide said on Monday.

Monday’s final vote tally revealed some interesting side notes. Republican Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois sided with Democrats against the procedural motion, while Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Joe Donnelly of Indiana joined the Republican effort. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, warned she did not support the defunding and instead offered an amendment to investigate the agency for possible criminal acts, calling it “a more targeted approach” to the dilemma.

Planned Parenthood performed about 330,000 abortion procedures last year.

The $528 million in taxpayer funds the group receives accounts for nearly 41 percent of the organization’s annual budget of $1.3 billion. The group claims federal money is not used for abortions, but critics say funding can be fungible and oppose backing an organization that performs procedures abhorrent to many taxpayers.