According to the federal government, thirty-seven Planned Parenthood affiliates filed for a total of $80 million in loans from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) despite the fact that they weren’t eligible for the loans.
The Planned Parenthood affiliates received the money. Now the federal government wants the money back.
As Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” reports, the Small Business Administration (SBA) is contacting the Planned Parenthood affiliates to point out affiliates of larger organizations with more than 500 employees cannot receive PPP funds. Fox News noted, “The Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PFFA) alone has had more than 600 employees.”
SBA noted that if the Planned Parenthood affiliates made knowingly false statements, criminal or civil sanctions could be imposed, adding, “PPFA’s bylaws, a version of which is publicly available, reveal that becoming a PPFA affiliate requires a certification by the PPFA board. Once certified, each Affiliate shall be governed by written bylaws, which conform to PPFA polices.”
On Tuesday evening, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) stated
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.
Last August, after the Trump administration said it would cut off federal funds from Planned Parenthood if it made abortion referrals, Planned Parenthood’s president and CEO, Laura Meyers, boasted, “Planned Parenthood is never going to allow the Trump-Pence administration to bully us into withholding critical health information from our patients,” asserting that the organization would reject federal funds rather than obey the Trump administration’s order.
The Daily Wire reported in January:
Abortion provider (and corporate welfare recipient) Planned Parenthood is committing $45 million to helping Democrats get elected in 2020, the group announced Friday, and launching a massive new effort called “We Decide 2020” to help fans of “reproductive choice” win or keep elected office.
The “stakes have never been higher,” Planned Parenthood’s website whines. “More than three-fourths of voters say abortion should remain safe and legal. There is no state in which banning abortion is popular. But anti-abortion politicians continue to try to undermine our rights and our access to reproductive health care, putting the ability of many people to obtain birth control, safe and legal abortion, and accurate sexual education in question — yet again.”
“We decide who our leaders are. We decide our future,” the website for “We Decide 2020” says. “At the ballot box this year, we — not out-of-touch politicians — decide what we do with our own bodies.”
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