CONCORD, N.H. – New Hampshire rejected $639,000 in state funding for Planned Parenthood Wednesday in a showdown between Republicans and Democrats over the organization’s use of fetal tissue from abortions for medical research.

The decision came on a 3-2 party-line vote by the Republican-majority New Hampshire Executive Council, with the key vote cast by Chris Sununu, son of John H. Sununu, a former governor of the state and chief of staff to President George H. W. Bush. Chris Sununu had supported Planned Parenthood in the past.

The drama attracted instant national attention in light of New Hampshire’s first in the nation presidential primary election on Feb. 9, and occurring on the eve of Thursday night’s initial nationally televised debate featuring the crowded Republican candidate roster seeking the party’s presidential nomination in 2016.

Placard-waving supporters and opponents of Planned Parenthood demonstrated outside the New Hampshire Capitol. Both the invocation prayer and Pledge of Allegiance at the outset of the council’s session made reference to the controversial issue.

New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat, strongly criticized the decision as purely political. She said the state funds would have funded family planning and reproductive health services and not abortion procedures. She said lack of state funding would cause hardship for low-income women and set a dangerous precedent.

“This is about individuals not only being able to access health care,” said Hassan. “It is about their ability to determine what their lives will be like … how they space their children, which is critical to women’s health and the health of families and children.”

Sununu, touted as a future candidate for governor, and his fellow Republicans on the Executive Council said they were disturbed by the content of videos showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing the practice of extracting fetal tissue from abortions for use in medical research.

“Most of us saw those videos online and the vast majority say it’s disgusting, it’s disturbing and it’s an absolute point for us to say, take a step back,” said Sununu.

The videos were obtained in undercover video tapings by the anti-abortion organization Center for Medical Progress. They included excerpts of conversations about aborted fetuses by Planned Parenthood officials.

Congress and several states have begun investigations into accusations that Planned Parenthood is profiting from facilitating the distribution of fetal tissue. David Wheeler, a Republican on the New Hampshire Executive Council, requested Governor Hassan also initiate an investigation. She firmly rejected the appeal.

“We do not launch investigations in the state of New Hampshire on rumor,” said Hassan.

Sununu, who is also the brother of former U.S. Senator John Sununu, acknowledged that he’s supported state funding for Planned Parenthood’s family planning and other health services in the past. He said he still considers himself “pro-choice.”

Yet, he added, “things are different now. We have to take a step back and just take a pause and say, ‘Is this a company and a business that we should be actively engaging with.”