Congressman Roger Marshall, M.D., who serves as the U.S. Representative for Kansas’s 1st congressional district, proposed H.R. 7792, The Abortion Provider Loan Elimination Act on July 27.
H.R. 7792 prevents abortion providers from receiving funds through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and launches an inquiry into how Planned Parenthood illegally collected 80 million dollars during the coronavirus crisis.
“Planned Parenthood should not be eligible because federal funds should not be used for abortions,” says Marshall, who practiced medicine as an OB/GYN for 30 years.
Moreover, PPP was meant to help companies with 500 or fewer employees. Planned Parenthood has an estimated 16,000 employees with two billion dollars in assets.
“They were able to finagle it, and we think they received 50 to 150 million dollars in funding. The crazy thing is, they knew it was wrong. They even tweeted that they would not be eligible,” says Marshall. “We want this to be investigated as fraud and hold them criminally reasonable. We think this should be prioritized.”
The national group of Planned Parenthood says they did not apply for funds — local Planned Parenthood organizations operating the clinics around the country received funds.
If the Abortion Provider Loan Elimination Act moves ahead, the Attorney General would have to open up an investigation to retrieve the money taken by Planned Parenthood.
As long as Democrats control the gavels, “I’m afraid this bill will never see the light of day. But this is one little way we can push back and bring some publicity to the situation, and so Americans know what is happening.”
The legislation is supported by 20 members of Congress and endorsed by Susan B. Anthony List, National Right to Life Committee and Family Research Council.
Florida’s Marco Rubio is also calling for an investigation after reports Planned Parenthood affiliates received millions in PPP funds. Rubio asks AG Barr to review the findings on July 7.
“I am proud to stand alongside the pro-life community in introducing this bill,” adds Marshall. The bill will “ensure abortion providers cannot take advantage of our hard-earned tax dollars during a pandemic, and investigate how they were able to do so in the first place.”
–Corine Gatti-Santillo