Planned Parenthood and several other abortion chains pocketed billions of dollars in federal COVID relief funds, millions of it illegally, a United States senator reveals.
A new U.S. Government Accountability study released in response to a request from U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) finds “that nearly $2 billion in federal taxpayer funding has been funneled to big abortion providers between FY2019-FY2021,” Blackburn announced in a statement.
Blackburn alleges Planed Parenthood pocketed some of the funds illegally.
“Planned Parenthood received $1.78 billion, which includes $90.4 million that the organization illegally siphoned via the Paycheck Protection Program. Additionally, International Planned Parenthood Federation received $2.03 million, MSI Reproductive Choices received $1.35 million, and four domestic regional abortion providers received $107.74 million,” Blackburn's office reports.
“It is appalling that big abortion providers are continuing to receive billions of dollars in federal taxpayer funding,” said Blackburn.
“While small businesses struggled to make ends meet during the pandemic, Planned Parenthood illegally siphoned over $90 million from the Paycheck Protection Program, specifically designed to help our mom and pop shops keep their doors open,” Blackburn said
“The American people want their tax dollars spent responsibly and in line with our nation's values — not on the Left's abortion-on-demand agenda,” Blackburn added.
“GAO found that Planned Parenthood received a whopping $1.78 billion between 2019-2021 while the nation was struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Smith, Co-Chair of the House Pro-Life Caucus. “
This included $90.14 million in forgivable loans through the Paycheck Protection Program—money that could have gone to struggling small businesses, many of which were forced to close. Federal taxpayer dollars should not be funneled to big abortion corporations like Planned Parenthood, which has killed over 9.3 million unborn children since 1970, including 1.11 million between 2019-2021. This money would have been better spent helping the businesses that were forced to close or providing comprehensive medical support for both women and children,” said Smith.
Blackburn's office notes:
* Between 2019-2021, Planned Parenthood performed 1.11 million abortions while receiving approximately $1.78 billion in federal funding. This is an average of $592 million every year.
Planned Parenthood received this funding from three categories: Reimbursements from Medicaid, Medicare, and CHIP Reimbursements ($1.53 billion), federal funding in grants and cooperative agreements ($148.5 million), and loans forgiven in the Paycheck Protection Program ($90.41 million).
* During the COVID-19 pandemic, Planned Parenthood received $90.4 million in forgiven Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. Congress intended these PPP funds to assist independent small businesses with less than 500 employees.
* Pro-life Members had informed the Small Business Administration that Planned Parenthood affiliates, with over 16,000 employees nationwide, were ineligible for PPP funding because Planned Parenthood's corporate office supervises and controls its affiliates, providing considerable funding and support.
* For years there has been bipartisan agreement that the United States taxpayer should not be put in the position of paying for abortions. Nearly 60% of people oppose federal tax dollars funding abortions in the United States.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
