The Small Business Administration (SBA) is probing whether affiliates of abortion giant Planned Parenthood illegally received $88 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“At the height of the pandemic, affiliates of Planned Parenthood took $88 million in taxpayer dollars to fund their abortion-on-demand agenda—and the Biden administration made sure they got nearly every cent forgiven, even after the first Trump administration protested,” SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler told The Daily Signal.
“Six years later, the Trump SBA holds the same conviction: Planned Parenthood Federation of America was never eligible to receive a dime in pandemic-era relief from taxpayers,” she added.
The SBA’s review comes the week of the March for Life, where thousands of pro-life advocates travel to Washington, DC, to advocate for the unborn.
According to The Daily Signal’s Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell, the SBA sent letters to 38 affiliates of Planned Parenthood Federation of America asking them to prove they were eligible for the millions they obtained in COVID-era relief. The report notes that the Biden administration also forgave 34 loans to Planned Parenthood affiliates under the PPP program.
SBA is specifically looking to see if the affiliates misrepresented their size or the nature of their affiliation with the national organization to illegally qualify for the loans, according to the report.
“As part of the review underway, not only will we expose the Planned Parenthood affiliates who took advantage of the American people — we will take every necessary step to force every bad actor to pay them back,” Loeffler said.
Affiliates that fail to provide documentation to SBA may be found ineligible for the loan and forgiveness of the loan, the report continues. SBA said affiliates that are found to have provided wrong or false information will face “severe penalties, including repayment of the loan, ineligibility for loan forgiveness, and possible referral for civil or criminal penalties.”
PPP ran during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, from April 3, 2020, to May 31, 2021. The loans were designed to help small businesses pay their employees during pandemic disruptions and government-enforced shutdowns. PPP applicants had to self-certify the size of their businesses to the SBA.
According to the Trump administration, Planned Parenthood affiliates claimed to be independent, qualified entities with fewer than 500 employees, in line with PPP requirements. However, the Trump administration contends none of those affiliates were actually eligible because of their affiliation with Planned Parenthood Federation of America, which altogether surpasses the 500-worker limit.
The pro-abortion Biden administration also forgave many PPP loans to the affiliations without “engaging in a meaningful review of their respective applications,” the report states.
Congressional Republicans have previously asked for investigations into the PPP loans doled out to Planned Parenthood affiliates, including Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA).
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
