Abortion business Planned Parenthood is the leader in a billion-dollar industry that should not be receiving any taxpayer funding and its affiliates should immediately return the tens of millions in funding they recently received through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
The program was designed to help struggling small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, not bail out a seedy and moneyed abortion industry.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) is formally requesting Planned Parenthood return the approximately $80 million in loans it obtained via PPP. SBA officials argue that Planned Parenthood affiliates are controlled by the national organization and aren’t independent enough to qualify as small businesses. By taking Paycheck Protection Program funds, Planned Parenthood is preventing deserving entrepreneurs from participating in the program.
It is important to note that Planned Parenthood uses much of the tax money that it does receive to game the political system in favor of pro-abortion Democrats. Even without access to the Paycheck Protection Program, Planned Parenthood is well provided for by government. In 2019, the group collected $617 million in taxpayer dollars while fighting the Trump administration for additional funding.
In response to the SBA’s request to return the PPP funds, 40 Democrat Senators sent a letter to the SBA and Treasury Department, not addressing the substance of the SBA’s argument, but arguing that attacking Planned Parenthood was a partisan witch hunt.
It’s not surprising that these Democrats came to the aid of the abortion giant when Planned Parenthood spends millions to get these very same politicians elected. Indeed, Planned Parenthood’s political arm, Planned Parenthood Votes, plans to spend a total of $45 million on the 2020 election to support pro-abortion candidates. As much as the abortion giant pretends to be above partisan politics, it’s essentially a taxpayer-funded arm of the Democratic National Committee.
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One prime example of this is former presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.). She has received tens of thousands of dollars from Planned Parenthood and its affiliates across the country throughout her political career. When undercover journalist David Daleiden exposed Planned Parenthood employees for trafficking in aborted baby body parts, Harris—then-California attorney general—ordered the raid of Daleiden’s home to seize the evidence he taped during the course of his investigation.
His recordings are protected under state “shield” laws that safeguard journalists’ work, but Harris abused the power of her office to exact revenge on Daleiden and mitigate fallout for the abortion giant, which—against federal law—trafficked in aborted baby parts.
Despite these efforts by Harris and other powerful politicians to protect Planned Parenthood, new video of sworn deposition confirms that the incriminating videos captured by Daleiden were in fact accurate. They leave no doubt, if any existed, that such an organization does not deserve the support of taxpayers.
A 2019 Marist poll found that the majority of all Americans oppose any taxpayer funds being used for abortion (54 percent to 39 percent). The numbers speak for themselves; Americans are justifiably uncomfortable with taxpayer dollars going to the abortion industry.
With a majority of Americans against any taxpayer funding of abortion, it’s shocking that Planned Parenthood was bold enough to go after $80 million in funding from the PPP’s forgivable loan program. The PPP loans were meant for small businesses who bring their talents to bear in these trying times—not an abortion behemoth that exploits a struggling woman’s unplanned pregnancy. It’s past time for Planned Parenthood return the money it received through the Paycheck Protection Program.
LifeNews Note: Jeanne Mancini is President of March for Life.