It’s no secret that taxpayers are footing the bill for abortion giant Planned Parenthood, despite claims that taxpayer dollars are not being used to subsidize the group and its activities. Here are three ways Planned Parenthood is benefiting at the expense of the American taxpayer.
1. State funding
Currently, 17 states directly fund elective abortions under Medicaid, the federal health care program for low income Americans. The Guttmacher Institute reports that Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia, use public funding to pay for abortion procedures.
While the 1976 Hyde Amendment prevents federal taxpayer dollars from funding abortions through Medicaid—with the exception of cases involving rape, incest, and life of the mother—the program is jointly funded by both the federal and state governments. The 17 states listed above, however, have expanded the definition to include most elective abortions.
2. Obamacare
Despite broken promises by members of Congress and the President, Americans are subsidizing elective abortions and Planned Parenthood under the Affordable Care Act.
The Government Accountability Office reported in September of 2014 that 1,036 health insurance exchange plans under Obamacare illegally cover elective abortions. The health care law mandates insurers offering coverage for elective abortions to collect a minimum surcharge of $12 a year from individuals, which is then placed into a separate account to pay for abortion procedures. This rule, however, is being ignored by insurers, according to the GAO.
The Affordable Care Act sends funding to health insurance plans that cover abortion, but also creates new paths of funding for abortion giant Planned Parenthood through its involvement in the assister and navigator programs.
3. Federal funding
Forty-one percent of Planned Parenthood’s annual revenue—$528 million— came in the form of government grants and reimbursements, according to the group’s 2013-14 annual report. These streams of funding for Planned Parenthood come through various programs including Medicaid and Title X.
While Medicaid and Title X are not directly paying for abortions at the federal level, these programs ensure that Planned Parenthood continues to receive over $500 million in taxpayer funding every year.
As the nation’s largest abortion chain, Planned Parenthood commits over 320,000 abortions annually, and is the leading abortion advocacy group with tremendous political clout. Because money is fungible, the taxpayer dollars that Planned Parenthood brings in allows them to cover overhead for centers that perform abortions. The taxpayer funds free up Planned Parenthood to direct their donations to grow their abortion services, facility reach, and abortion political advocacy. Additionally, once Planned Parenthood earns money for any service, it can freely invest those earnings into abortion activities.
Despite the ways taxpayer dollars flow into the coffers of Big Abortion, Planned Parenthood and its allies continue to fight for taxpayer funding without restriction through the repeal of the Hyde Amendment.
A report from the Government Accountability Office showed that in just three years, Planned Parenthood received $1.5 billion in combined federal and state funding. Six abortion groups received $481 million in federal dollars and $1.2 billion in state and federal funding from 2010-12, with Planned Parenthood receiving the largest share.
Planned Parenthood’s long legacy of scandal —selling baby body parts, covering up child sexual abuse, aiding child sex-traffickers, and displaying willingness to perform abortions based on race and sex, and supporting infanticide— renders it unfit for taxpayer money.
