WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today joined Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and more than 20 Republican senators in introducing the Abortion Providers Loan Elimination Act, which would explicitly prohibit abortion providers, like Planned Parenthood, from receiving Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.
“Planned Parenthood and its affiliates aren’t content to profit from snuffing out unborn lives. Their business model now involves leeching money from small businesses that actually need it. The Paycheck Protection Program is supposed to help small business owners keep their workers on payroll—not act as a slush fund for America’s largest abortion peddler. Congress is responsible for stewarding taxpayer dollars and protecting innocent lives. Since Planned Parenthood refuses to return its PPP loans—and has even applied for round two—it’s time to unequivocally prohibit these abortion providers from poaching another dime of this funding,” said Kennedy.
“The Paycheck Protection Program was created to provide struggling small businesses with much needed federal assistance at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Like most Americans, I was outraged to hear Planned Parenthood affiliates gamed the system and illegally obtained $80 million through the program. It’s clear to me that Americans don’t want their hard earned tax dollars to fund abortions, and to Planned Parenthood’s dismay, our bill claws back the money and investigates into how it ever was allowed to happen. As a physician who delivered thousands of babies in rural Kansas and now a U.S. Senator, I consider my efforts to protect the sanctity of life my most important work, and I’m pleased my colleagues joined me in this fight,” said Marshall.
The Abortion Providers Loan Elimination Act would ensure Planned Parenthood affiliates and other abortion providers are ineligible for future PPP funding and instructs the Small Business Administration (SBA) inspector general to investigate how this national organization was able to receive funds from the program in the first place.
When the global pandemic hit, the federal government instituted the PPP to aid small businesses. At the height of the pandemic, Planned Parenthood Federation of America applied for and received millions of dollars in PPP funds, even though it is a national organization with central control over its affiliates, over $2 billion in assets and 16,000 employees.
In May of 2020, the SBA notified 39 Planned Parenthood affiliates that they had wrongfully applied for tens of millions of dollars in PPP loans. The SBA determined that these affiliates were ineligible for the loans under the applicable affiliation rules and that the loans they received should be returned. According to the most recently available data, a few affiliates did so, but the remaining 31 affiliates kept this money despite receiving notice that they had acquired these funds illegally. As of this March, three of the 31 Planned Parenthood affiliates again applied for and received second draw loans for a combined $4.8 million in additional funding.
Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) introduced companion legislation in the House, where more than 60 representatives have co-sponsored it.
Text of the Abortion Providers Loan Elimination Act is available here.
