Abortion groups received nearly $2 billion in taxpayer funds over 3 years: Gov’t report

A new Tuesday report by the Government Accountability Office found that the federal government gave abortion groups, including Planned Parenthood, nearly $2 billion from 2019 to 2021.

Last year, United States Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), Representative Chris Smith (R-New Jersey), and former Representative Vicky Hartzler (R-Missouri) led 142 Congressional members in requesting the government watchdog create a report shedding light on federal funding going to pro-abortion groups.

In a January 2022 press release, Blackburn’s office noted that a former GAO report from fiscal year 2016 through 2018 revealed that nearly 2 billion in taxpayer dollars was used to support abortion groups, including the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Marie Stopes International, and International Parenthood Federation.

Federal law does not permit the use of taxpayer dollars to fund abortions. However, there is no law preventing taxpayer funds from being distributed to abortion providers, the press release noted.

“The information sought in this inquiry is instrumental for policymakers and the public alike,” the lawmaker wrote. “It is our hope that this report will provide greater insight as Congress considers funding levels and provides increased transparency and openness for our constituencies and the general public.”

The GAO’s latest report revealed that as of May 2023, Planned Parenthood’s affiliates received roughly $89 million in forgiven Paycheck Protection Program loans from April 2020 and May 2021. The federal government’s PPP program provided low-interest loans that were “fully forgivable for payroll and certain other eligible costs if certain conditions [were] met,” the report noted. The loans were meant for small businesses with 500 employees or fewer. While Planned Parenthood employs over 16,000 workers, its smaller affiliates reaped the benefits of the COVID-era loan program.

From 2019 to 2021, Planned Parenthood’s affiliates reportedly received $1.78 billion in federal funds via Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. In total, the federal government gave $1.89 billion to abortion providers during that period. The GAO’s report found that the Biden administration increased funding to Planned Parenthood by 373% between 2021 and 2022.

“It is appalling that big abortion providers are continuing to receive billions of dollars in federal taxpayer funding,” Blackburn said in a Tuesday statement. “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."

"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," she continued. "I will never stop fighting to protect the unborn and end taxpayer-funded support for the abortion industry.”

Smith stated that American taxpayer money “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,” Smith said.

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