Planned Parenthood Received $83 Million in PPP Government Loans, Senators Calling for an Investigation

A group of 25 Republican Senators are calling for an investigation into how 38 Planned Parenthood affiliate offices received $83 million in federal COVID-related stimulus funding, despite being ineligible for the program.

Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest and fastest growing abortion business, with an estimated $2 billion in assets and 16,000 employees. And yet, despite this enormous war chest, Planned Parenthood affiliates across the country received money from the Small Business Administration (SBA) through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

According to the SBA, PPP “is a loan designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on payroll. Borrowers may be eligible for PPP loan forgiveness.” It is there for small businesses struggling with the economic fallout from the COVID-19 economic downturn.

But for some inexplicable reason, Planned Parenthood affiliates applied for and received $83 million in funding in the first two stimulus bills, though the rules make the abortion business ineligible based on the number of people it employs and its total assets.

The SBA asked for those funds back, but only seven of the 38 affiliates complied.

In a letter written to the SBA, 25 Senators are calling for an investigation into how “a national organization with central control over its affiliates which has nearly $2 billion in assets, and over 16,000 employees nationwide, are continually able to obtain loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) when Small Business Administration (SBA) rules and guidance has made it clear that they are ineligible for such funds.”

The letter continues, “It is unconscionable that SBA continues to approve PPP loans made to organizations which are clearly ineligible for funding. This is unacceptable, not only because SBA, like other agencies, must be faithful and responsible steward of taxpayer dollars but also because continuing to make funds available for Planned Parenthood affiliates is in direct violation of the law.

“We urge that the SBA promptly open an investigation into how these loans were made in clear violation of the applicable affiliation rules and if Planned Parenthood, relevant lenders, or staff at the SBA knowingly violated the law, and that appropriate legal action be taken if so.”

It is deeply concerning that Planned Parenthood received government funds designated for struggling small businesses. As an organization that supposedly “delivers vital reproductive health care, sex education, and information to millions of people worldwide,” Planned Parenthood should have been relatively unaffected by the economic fallout caused by the pandemic.

However, it isn’t surprising that the affiliates reached out for support.

For the last three years, Planned Parenthood’s national office received over $500 million in private donations alone, but that money generally doesn’t trickle down to the various affiliate offices. Instead, that money is most likely used for activism and supporting pro-abortion legislation.

As a result, the affiliates are left to flounder, especially if they don’t provide any abortion-related services, which is more financially lucrative than general health care.

For example, in 2019 two non-abortion Planned Parenthood locations in Ohio closed after the clinics lost Title X funding. The abortion business’ national office, if it cared about providing “vital reproductive health care” like it claims, could have easily stepped in and kept those two clinics afloat. The same could be said for the three clinics in Washington state that just closed due to low Medicaid reimbursements. It’s likely none of those clinics provided abortions.

Planned Parenthood also could have undoubtedly supplied the $83 million that its affiliates supposedly needed in response to COVID, but instead let the government pick up the dime.

This whole situation raises the question, if you’re donating to Planned Parenthood, where is your money really going? Because it’s clearly not supporting health care services in vulnerable communities. If it was, why would any Planned Parenthood location close or receive PPP?

Focus on the Family has a ministry called Option Ultrasound, which provides pro-life pregnancy resource centers with ultrasound machines.

Photo from Ken Wolter / Shutterstock.com