WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R—Tenn.) along with Senators James Lankford (R—Okla.), Ben Sasse (R—Neb.), Steve Daines (R—Mont.), Marco Rubio (R—Fla.), Bill Hagerty (R— Tenn.), Ted Cruz (R—Texas), Josh Hawley (R—Mo.), John Thune (R— S.D.), Mike Rounds (R— S.D.), Joni Ernst (R— Iowa), Roger Marshall (R—Kan.), Deb Fischer (R— Neb.), Roy Blunt (R— Mo.), Jim Inhofe (R— Okla.), Roger Wicker (R— Miss.), Senators James Risch (R—Idaho), Thom Tillis (R—N.C.), Mike Braun (R— Ind.), Mitt Romney (R—Utah), Rand Paul (R— Ky.), Tom Cotton (R— Ark.), Tim Scott (R— S.C.), Mike Lee (R— Ariz), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R— Miss.), Bill Cassidy (R—La.), and Kevin Cramer (R— N.D.) introduced legislation to close loopholes that allow Title X family planning funds to go to entities that perform abortions, including Planned Parenthood.

“We must close loopholes that allow for abortion giants like Planned Parenthood to receive federal funding,” said Senator Blackburn. “This legislation will help end taxpayer funded support for the abortion industry and protect the unborn.”

“The abortion industry has used the Title X family planning program as a marketing slush fund, paid for by taxpayers to build a client base for abortion,” said Kristan Hawkins, President, Students for Life of America. “Nothing stops them from selling abortions on their own time, but they want our time and money. Students for Life’s Institute for Pro-life Advancement just released a poll showing that almost half of all Millennials and Gen Z, those most targeted for abortion, don’t want their tax money to pay for abortions at home and more than half don’t want to pay for it worldwide. Legislators should refrain from this kind of extremists’ overreach in abortion policy as the only groups pushing for it just want to get paid to end life. Let’s be clear: If your ‘healthcare’ kills people on purpose, you’re doing it wrong.”

“As the Biden-Harris Administration moves to unravel the Protect Life Rule this week, Senator Blackburn is taking action to draw a bright line of separation between abortion and family planning and to keep taxpayers out of the abortion industry,” said Hon. Marilyn Musgrave, Vice President of Government Affairs, Susan B. Anthony List. “New national polling from The Marist Poll finds this action is wanted: a strong majority of Americans oppose using taxpayer money to fund abortions – including Democrats, Independents, and self-proclaimed pro-choice people.”

"Not a single taxpayer dollar should go to fund the deadly, brutal, corrupt abortion industry,” said Lila Rose, Founder and President of Live Action. “Live Action applauds Sen. Blackburn for working to ensure that Title X funding will not go to businesses that kill thousands of preborn children every day."

The Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act Will:

• Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from providing federal family planning grants to entities that perform abortions, or provide funds to entities that perform abortions.

• Strips abortion giant Planned Parenthood and other Title X clinics of taxpayer funding that ought to go to comprehensive healthcare alternatives instead.

• Exceptions are made for abortions where: (1) the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest; or (2) a physician certifies that the woman suffers from a physical disorder, injury, or illness that would place the woman in danger of death unless an abortion is performed, including a condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy. Hospitals are exempted unless they provide funds to non-hospital entities that perform abortions.

• Requires that HHS provide an annual report to Congress that includes: (1) information on grantees who perform abortions under the exceptions; and (2) a list of entities to which grant funds are made available.

BACKGROUND

Despite performing hundreds of thousands of abortions every year, organizations like Planned Parenthood have received tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer money annually. Since 1976, federal law has prohibited use of federal funds for abortions. A January 2018 Marist poll found that 60 percent of Americans oppose using tax dollars for abortion.