Issues

Planned Parenthood accused of illegally claiming COVID-19 aid

10 Jun 2020
Abortion
World

US abortion giant Planned Parenthood has been accused of ‘defrauding taxpayers’ by claiming government aid intended to help small businesses.

During the COVID-19 crisis, 37 Planned Parenthood affiliates applied for and received $80 million collectively from the US Government’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The Small Business Administration (SBA) is now demanding they return the money as they were ineligible.

PPP was only available to businesses which met certain criteria. They were ruled ineligible if they were affiliated with a larger organisation with more than 500 employees. In this instance, the umbrella organisation, The Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), has over 600 employees.

Legal action

Senator Marco Rubio, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, said the abortion giant’s violation of the rules was clear.

He said: “There is no ambiguity in the legislation that passed or public record around its passage that organizations such as Planned Parenthood, whose parent organization has close to half a billion dollars in assets, is not eligible for the Paycheck Protection Program”.

He said the funds “must be returned immediately”, adding that the SBA should open an investigation into how they were granted and that “all appropriate legal options should be pursued” if Planned Parenthood or staff at the SBA knowingly violated the law.

Billion-dollar budget

Senator James Lankford commented that “every dollar Planned Parenthood took from PPP was a dollar that did not get to legitimate small businesses”.

“With an annual budget of over one billion dollars, the explicit Small Business Administration affiliation rules made it clear that Planned Parenthood was not and is not eligible for the Paycheck Protection Program.

“Like other large organizations that returned monies they were not eligible for, Planned Parenthood should immediately repay the American people the money they took from deserving small businesses and non-profits.”