During COVID, Abortion Providers Received $2 Billion in Federal Funding

Abortion providers received nearly $2 billion in federal funding during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Released on Tuesday, the report found that, between 2019 and 2021, leading abortion provider Planned Parenthood received $1.78 billion, while the 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, according to the report.

The GAO also found that Planned Parenthood affiliates received 44 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans totaling approximately $89 million; the entire amount, including accrued interest, was later forgiven.

“It is appalling that big abortion providers are continuing to receive billions of dollars in federal taxpayer funding,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said in a press release. “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.”

Federal law prohibits the use of federal funds for abortions, but it does not restrict funding abortion providers.

In January 2022, Blackburn led a group of 142 congressional lawmakers in requesting the GAO produce a report on federal funding for abortion advocacy groups.

According to a topline summary of the report compiled by the offices of Blackburn and Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., Planned Parenthood received the federal 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).

The summary noted that Congress created PPP loans to “assist truly independent small businesses with less than 500 employees.”

“Pro-life Members had informed the Small Business Administration (SBA) 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,” the summary states.

Under the Biden administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), obligations to Planned Parenthood increased from $5.71 million to $27.06 million between 2021 and 2022, representing a 373% increase, the GAO report found.

The increase followed the administration’s decision to overturn a Trump-era rule called the Protect Life Rule, which required all grantees receiving Title X funding to maintain physical and financial separation from abortion providers and agree not to refer for abortion.

While the rule was in effect, Planned Parenthood forfeited Title X funding instead of complying; the funding had been the organization’s second largest source of federal funding under former President Barack Obama.