Abortion advocates received nearly $2 billion in federal funds over three years, data shows

CNA Staff, Dec 13, 2023 / 08:14 am (CNA).

A congressional report released this week revealed that major abortion advocacy organizations received nearly $2 billion in federal funds between 2019 and 2021.

A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report showed that several pro-abortion groups “received $1.89 billion in federal funding” over the years in question, the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus said in a review of the data.

Of that amount, the vast majority — $1.78 billion — went to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the report said.

Smaller amounts totaling around $111 million went to the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), MSI Reproductive Choices (MSI), and “four domestic regional organizations.”

Most of the funding was disbursed through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the pro-life summary said.

Under the Hyde and Helms amendments, the caucus noted, federal funds were not used to pay for abortions directly. But “neither the Hyde nor Helms amendments limit funding for abortion providers,” the group pointed out.

“Federal funding of abortion providers expands the reach and influence of abortion advocates, giving taxpayers’ stamp of approval to the agenda of abortion advocates,” the caucus said.

The report showed Planned Parenthood receiving its nearly $2 billion worth of funds from several federal sources, largely through Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements but also including “grants and cooperative agreements” and loans forgiven via the Paycheck Protection Program, a COVID-era federal relief initiative.

“Overall, the federal funding Planned Parenthood received in 2019-2021 grew by $170 million” since the last GAO report released in 2021, the caucus said.

Both IPPF and MSI are global abortion groups that together carry out millions of abortions around the world every year. IPPF, the pro-life caucus said, received “approximately $2 million” in federal funding over the years reviewed, while MSI received about $1.3 million.

The figures come from health care funding data provided by the GAO. On her website, Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn said on Tuesday that the government released the data after she and New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith, along with dozens of other congressional members, filed a request for it in January 2022.

The study itself was published in November and “publicly released” this week.

“It is appalling that big abortion providers are continuing to receive billions of dollars in federal taxpayer funding,” Blackburn said on Tuesday, claiming that 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.”

Smith, who co-chairs the House Pro-Life Caucus, argued that federal dollars “should not be funneled to big abortion corporations like Planned Parenthood, which has killed over 9.3 million unborn children since 1970, including 1.11 million between 2019-2021.”

“This money would have been better spent helping the businesses that were forced to close or providing comprehensive medical support for both women and children,” Smith said.