Abortion Providers Got Nearly $2 Billion in Taxpayer Dollars From 2019 to 2021

Planned Parenthood signage is displayed outside of a health care clinic in Los Angeles, Calif., on May 16, 2023. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

Abortion providers and advocacy groups like Planned Parenthood received nearly $2 billion in federal taxpayer funds between 2019 and 2021, per a newly released government report that Republicans called “truly shocking.”

“The results of the study have just now come out—and they are truly shocking,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn said in a statement on Dec. 12, the day that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report detailing the amount in federal funds sent to abortion groups and providers over just a three-year period.

The GAO report showed that abortion advocates and providers received $1.89 billion in taxpayer money between 2019-2021, with Planned Parenthood and its affiliates raking in the lion’s share—$1.78 billion.

“It is appalling that big abortion providers are continuing to receive billions of dollars in federal taxpayer funding,” Ms. Blackburn said in a statement to media outlets. “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.”

Polling indicates that roughly 60 percent of Americans are opposed to the use of tax dollars to pay for abortions.

Last year, a group of over 140 congressional Republicans asked the federal government to provide a detailed report about how much in taxpayer funds were being sent to abortion providers and advocacy groups.

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The GAO report is the result of that request.

“GAO found that Planned Parenthood received a whopping $1.78 billion between 2019-2021 while the nation was struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic,” Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), co-chair of the House Pro-Life Caucus, said in a statement to media outlets.

“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,” he continued.

“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,” he added.

Many Republicans have said that federal funds should not be used to support any organizations that advocate for easier access to abortions or that perform abortions—such as Planned Parenthood—and that taxpayer dollars that do go to such organizations should be redirected elsewhere.

Republicans have been at the forefront of efforts to prevent tax dollars from going to abortion providers.

Planned Parenthood in the Crosshairs

The GOP has been on a years-long crusade against Planned Parenthood, the biggest abortion provider in the United States.

Former Vice President Mike Pence introduced the first federal legislation to prevent any federal funds from going to Planned Parenthood in 2007, when he was a congressional representative.

Mr. Pence did so repeatedly through 2011, when the bill finally passed the House—though it failed in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

Since then, Republicans have repeatedly revived efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, with the first bill ever to be proposed by freshman Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) in the 118th Congress being the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2023.

“Planned Parenthood claims these funds go to healthcare for women, but last year, Planned Parenthood performed a record number of abortions while also reducing the number of well-woman exams and breast cancer screenings it performed,” Ms. Boebert said in a statement in January.

That bill, like others before it, aims to prohibit federal funds from being made available to Planned Parenthood, or any of its affiliates or clinics, unless they certify that they will not perform abortions. Exceptions are made for abortions in cases of rape, incest, or when the woman’s life is in danger.

Ms. Boebert’s draft bill was referred to the House Subcommittee on Health, where it has remained since Jan. 20.

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Asked for comment, Planned Parenthood told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement that efforts to “defund” the organization prevent patients from receiving preventive services like birth control and screenings for cancer and sexually transmitted diseases.

The organization argued that defunding it would result in a loss of access to important non-abortion services for many low-income communities.

Republicans and pro-life groups have argued that it would be fine for Planned Parenthood to get federal funding (like other health care providers do) if it only provided services like counseling or HIV testing. But, they argue that since Planned Parenthood provides abortions, it should be disqualified from receiving public money.

“There’s no single entity that stands to make a profit off the violence of abortion more than Planned Parenthood,” Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, said in a statement after Ms. Boebert introduced her bill in January.

“Deceitfully, Planned Parenthood guises their business model as one that helps women while their latest annual report shows they made $633 millionfrom taxpayers while ending 383,460 little lives in that same time frame,” Ms. Hawkins said, adding that screening services provided by Planned Parenthood have dropped by double-digit percentages “proving they’re in the business of abortion.”

Since 2010, there has been a 74 percent decrease in cancer screenings, a 72 percent decrease in prenatal care, and a 41 percent decrease in contraceptive services provided by Planned Parenthood, according to the Charlotte Lozier Institute, citing Planned Parenthood’s own annual reports.

Groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have repeatedly opposed legislation to defund Planned Parenthood. The ACLU called the 2011 bill that passed the House an “assault on women’s health” while labeling the latest Republican proposal to include defunding Planned Parenthood in the November budget bill a “nationwide assault on reproductive and gender-affirming health care.”

Since retaking the House in 2022, Republicans have introduced various pro-life bills, including one that would prevent federal funding from going to colleges and universities that have abortion clinics targeted at students or staff, or make it illegal for doctors to perform abortions due to a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis.