Planned Parenthood affiliates applied for and received $80 million in loans from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
Now, the Small Business Administration (SBA) and some members of Congress are calling on the abortion provider to return the funds, saying it violated the coronavirus relief program.
"The money needs to be recovered and if anybody knowingly falsified applications, they need to be prosecuted," Sen. Josh Hawley, Missouri Republican, tweeted on May 19.
SBA is reportedly contacting the affiliates, informing each that, with over 600 employees, Planned Parenthood Federation of America is not eligible for the funds that are loaned to organizations with 500 employees or less.
Fox News reported that Planned Parenthood Metropolitan Washington “self-certified” that it was eligible for a loan of $1,328,000 but is being asked to return the funds.
Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties in California received the largest loan of $7.5 million.
Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Republican and chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, told Fox News that Planned Parenthood had violated the PPP rules:
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. Those funds must be returned immediately. Furthermore, the SBA should open an investigation into how these loans were made in clear violation of the applicable affiliation rules and if Planned Parenthood, the banks, or staff at the SBA knowingly violated the law, all appropriate legal options should be pursued.In its latest annual report for 2018-2019, Planned Parenthood revealed the organization performed a record-high number of abortions while it also received record-high taxpayer funding.
Meanwhile, the acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) wrote to the secretary-general of the UN on Monday, making clear that U.S. aid to the United Nations should be used solely for “life-saving interventions” during the coronavirus pandemic, and not for abortion or the promotion of abortion.
“As the UN and Member States around the world work to address the pandemic of COVID-19, I urge you, your staff, and the UN’s funds, programs, and specialized and technical agencies to stay focused on life-saving interventions,” wrote John Barsa to António Guterres. “The delivery of essential health care is the first priority around the globe during this time.”
Barsa continued:
Therefore, the UN should not use this crisis as an opportunity to advance access to abortion as an “essential service.” Unfortunately, the Global HRP [Humanitarian Response Plan] does just this, by cynically placing the provision of “sexual and reproductive health services” on the same level of importance as food-insecurity, essential health care, malnutrition, shelter, and sanitation. Most egregious is that the Global HRP calls for the widespread distribution of abortion-inducing drugs and abortion supplies, and for the promotion of abortion in local country settings.Barsa said in the letter to the UN that President Donald Trump has “made clear that we will ‘never tire of defending innocent life,’ ” and “that the UN simply has ‘no business attacking the sovereignty of nations that wish to protect innocent life.’ ”
The UN “should not intimidate or coerce Member States that are committed to the right to life,” Barsa said. “The United States stands with nations that have pledged to protect the unborn.”
Free Press International
