WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new U.S. Government Accountability (GAO) study released in response to a request from U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Congressman Chris Smith (R-N.J.) reveal that nearly $2 billion in federal taxpayer funding has been funneled to big abortion providers between FY2019-FY2021.

Planned Parenthood received $1.78 billion, which includes $90.4 million that the organization illegally siphoned via the Paycheck Protection Program. Additionally, International Planned Parenthood Federation received $2.03 million, MSI Reproductive Choices received $1.35 million, and four domestic regional abortion providers received $107.74 million.

“It is appalling that big abortion providers are continuing to receive billions of dollars in federal taxpayer funding,” said Senator Blackburn. “While small businesses struggled to make ends meet during the pandemic, 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. The American people want their tax dollars spent responsibly and in line with our nation’s values — not on the Left’s abortion-on-demand agenda. I will never stop fighting to protect the unborn and end taxpayer-funded support for the abortion industry.”

“GAO found that Planned Parenthood received a whopping $1.78 billion between 2019-2021 while the nation was struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Representative Chris Smith, Co-Chair of the House Pro-Life Caucus. “This included $90.14 million in forgivable loans through the Paycheck Protection Program—money that could have gone to struggling small businesses, many of which were forced to close. Federal taxpayer 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.”

• Click here for a topline summary of the GAO report and here for the full report.

• Between 2019-2021, Planned Parenthood performed 1.11 million abortions while receiving approximately $1.78 billion in federal funding. This is an average of $592 million every year.

• Planned Parenthood received this funding from three categories: Reimbursements from Medicaid, Medicare, and CHIP Reimbursements ($1.53 billion), federal funding in grants and cooperative agreements ($148.5 million), and loans forgiven in the Paycheck Protection Program ($90.41 million).

• During the COVID-19 pandemic, Planned Parenthood received $90.4 million in forgiven Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. Congress intended these PPP funds to assist independent small businesses with less than 500 employees.

• Pro-life Members had informed the Small Business Administration that Planned Parenthood affiliates, with over 16,000 employees nationwide, were ineligible for PPP funding because Planned Parenthood's corporate office supervises and controls its affiliates, providing considerable funding and support.

• In 2019, the Trump Administration issued the Protect Life Rule, modeled after Senator Blackburn’s Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, requiring all grantees receiving Title X funding to agree not to refer for abortion and to maintain physical and financial separation from abortion providers.

• During the Obama Administration, Title X was Planned Parenthood's second largest source of federal funding.

• Planned Parenthood was so committed to its abortion agenda that it refused to comply and forfeited Title X funding under the Trump Administration. The GAO found that Planned Parenthood's refusal "led almost all affiliates to discontinue using family planning grants under Title X" during 2020 and 2021.

• For years there has been bipartisan agreement that the United States taxpayer should not be put in the position of paying for abortions. Nearly 60% of people oppose federal tax dollars funding abortions in the United States.