The U.S. Senate voted to defund Planned Parenthood and repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on Thursday.

The Senate spent much of Thursday debating a Republican-led bill to repeal President Barack Obama's signature health care law, also commonly known as Obamacare. The measure, which was sponsored by three Senate Republicans, includes a provision that would have blocked federal funds for Planned Parenthood.

One amendment would have restored Planned Parenthood funding and created a $1 billion women's health care clinic safety fund, fully paid for by a new tax on millionaires. However, the chamber rejected it, 54-46.

A second amendment would have simply cut Planned Parenthood funding, but the measure failed in a 48-52 vote, reports The Hill.

Planned Parenthood has been under fire since July when a conservative anti-abortion group released videos that allegedly show medical workers affiliated with the pro-choice org discussing the sale of aborted fetal tissue. The women's health organization has denied any wrongdoing and argued that the videos are heavily edited. However, following the release of undercover sting videos, dozens of conservative Republicans pledged to stop federal funding for Planned Parenthood by any means necessary, despite the fact no federal dollars are allocated to abortions.

"While Republicans may want to avoid taking this tough vote, Democrats are going to keep making it very clear exactly where we stand: with women across the country," said Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington ahead of the vote.

Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine defended her amendment ahead of the vote, suggesting that without it women would lose access to hundreds of health clinics across the nation.

"I want to make clear that our amendment does not include any new spending. It does increase taxes, and it retains the current Hyde amendment language which prohibits the use of federal funds for abortions except in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is at risk," Collins said.

Obama has said he will veto legislation that would affect the ACA.