The president of Planned Parenthood was grilled by House Republicans during a hearing Tuesday regarding its federal funding as the issue of whether it should be defunded or not continues to dominate headlines.

Cecile Richards told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, that the videos, released by the Center for Medical Progress, are "deceptively edited" and "heavily doctored," according to Fox News.

However, an independent forensic analysis showed that the videos released by the pro-life group Center for Medical Progress (CMP) "are authentic and show no evidence of manipulation or editing."

Republican Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz of Utah dismissed claims of doctoring, saying Planned Parenthood's "desire for more of taxpayer dollars is just insatiable."

He accused Planned Parenthood of spending millions on travel, parties and salaries while cutting back on certain health care services.

He said the organisation "doesn't need a federal subsidy" after learning from Richards that her annual salary is $520,000.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney scored Chaffetz's line of questioning, saying he's "beating up on a woman ... for making a good salary."

The Planned Parenthood head defended her organisation, saying that they provide birth control, cancer screenings and other health care services.

She said the foetal tissue harvesting videos are a "smear campaign," adding that "once again, our opponents failed."

Richards said less than 1 percent of their clinics facilitate donations for foetal tissue research, and they do so legally.

Democrat Rep. Elijah Cummings blasted CMP for having "misled and essentially conned Planned Parenthood employees."

Meanwhile, Americans fully support funding for Planned Parenthood based on a recent survey conducted by USA TODAY/Suffolk University.

The survey found that 65 percent of respondents believe funding should continue for Planned Parenthood while only 29 percent say it should be cut off.

"Basically, we're defunding women's healthcare," business consultant and survey respondent Erika Raney, 32, told USA TODAY. "It furthers the issue that women still don't have equal rights in the US."

However, retiree Ronald Joseph, 78, called Planned Parenthood "butchers" for providing abortion service.

In the survey, 91 percent of Democrats support funding for Planned Parenthood while 59 percent of Republicans don't.