At least 37 Planned Parenthood affiliates around the country applied for coronavirus relief funds from the Paycheck Protection Program, receiving a total of $80 million from the federal government, as reported by Fox News.
The Small Business Administration has been reaching out to every Planned Parenthood affiliate that received money, ordering them to return it since they do not fall below the threshold of 500 employees, one of the requirements for receiving PPP funds as a “small business.”
Planned Parenthood CEO Laura Meyers had promised last year to turn down federal funds, falsely accusing the Trump Administration of “bullying us into withholding critical health information from our patients.” She was speaking in reference to the Administration officially defunding Planned Parenthood entirely of federal funding, a long-standing promise by many Republican presidents that was never fully achieved until the Trump Administration.
In reaching out to the guilty Planned Parenthood affiliates, the SBA warned that more “severe penalties” were possible if they failed to return the money, including possible criminal sanctions. Senators Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) echoed these sentiments and called for an investigation that may include criminal prosecution.