GAO Report Finds Billions of Tax Dollars Fund Abortion Providers

D.J. Jordan (Lankford)

Brook Ramlet Hougesen (Ernst)

Katie Boyd (Blunt)

Breanna Deutsch (Daines)

WASHINGTON, DC – The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office released an extensive report that details the amount of federal tax dollars spent from 2013-2015 by three abortion providers including Planned Parenthood Federation of American (PPFA), Marie Stopes International (MSI), and International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). The report was requested by Senators James Lankford (R-OK), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Steve Daines (R-MT), and more than 120 Members of the Senate and House in 2016.

In addition to $1.2 billion in Medicaid reimbursements from 2013-2015, GAO reported PPFA spent $288 million in federal funds. The largest amount granted was $170 million from Title X programs, followed by $21 million from Title V Maternal Child Health Services block grants, and $18 million from Teen Pregnancy Prevention program. USAID also dispersed $14 million and $110 million to IPPF and MSI, respectively. Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) offer a wider variety of health services than PPFA and its affiliates. In the two years documented by this study, FQHCs served 25 million individuals compared to 2.4 million individuals at Planned Parenthood. 

The co-chairs of the Senate Values Action Team (VAT) issued the following statements in response to the report:

“This GAO report sheds light on the outrageous amount of money tax-payers are forced to pour into clinics that provide abortions in the United States and around the world,” said Lankford. “Regardless of our differences of opinion on when life begins, I hope we can all agree that no taxpayer should be forced to fund some of the world’s largest abortion providers with their hard-earned tax dollars. Every human life has dignity from conception to natural death. We should use tax dollars to support FQHCs which provide necessary health care to protect all lives.”

“This report once again illustrates the absurd amount of taxpayer dollars funding the nation’s single largest provider of abortion services, Planned Parenthood, and its international affiliate organizations,” said Ernst. “More than $1.5 billion in tax payer’s dollars should not go to an organization with such blatant disrespect for human life. That is why I introduced legislation to defund Planned Parenthood and redirect those dollars to federally qualified health centers that provide actual comprehensive care and family planning services for women. We have made great strides to protect life under the Trump administration, but there is more work to be done, and we remain committed to protecting the most vulnerable in our society.”

“For more than 40 years, the health care funding appropriated by Congress has carried Hyde Amendment protections, owing to the recognition that no American should be forced to fund abortions,” Blunt said. “I will continue supporting efforts in Congress to redirect these funds to community health centers. There are 16 community health centers for every Planned Parenthood location, and they offer more health care services for women.”

“The GAO report shows once again that Americans are forced to send billions of their hard-earned dollars to a business that was caught on camera agreeing to traffic in baby body parts,” said Daines. “This is a tragic example of government’s lack of accountability and abuse of taxpayer dollars.”

VAT is dedicated to advancing pro-life and pro-family policies in Congress. Lankford, Ernst, Blunt, and Daines were original co-sponsors of the Protect Funding for Women’s Health Care Act, which would redirect taxpayer funds from Planned Parenthood and its affiliates to other eligible women’s health care providers that do not perform abortions, and the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act, which prohibits funding for abortion. 

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