Sen. Marshall and Rep. Murphy Introduce Legislation Banning Abortion Providers from PPP Participation

Legislation cosponsored by 25 Senators and 62 Congressmen

(Washington, D.C., April 27, 2021) – Today, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (KS) and Congressman Greg Murphy, M.D. (NC-3) introduced the Abortion Providers Loan Elimination (APLE) Act, which requires Planned Parenthood affiliates to return the $80 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans they illegally applied for and received. It would also ensure Planned Parenthood affiliates, and other abortion providers, remain ineligible for future PPP funding and instruct the Small Business Administration (SBA) Inspector General to investigate how this national organization was able to receive funds from the program.

“The Paycheck Protection Program was created to provide struggling small businesses with much needed federal assistance at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Like most Americans, I was outraged to hear Planned Parenthood affiliates gamed the system and illegally obtained $80 million through the program,” said Senator Marshall. “It’s clear to me that Americans don’t want their hard earned tax dollars to fund abortions, and to Planned Parenthood’s dismay, our bill claws back the money and investigates into how it ever was allowed to happen. As a physician who delivered thousands of babies in rural Kansas and now a U.S. Senator, I consider my efforts to protect the sanctity of life my most important work, and I’m pleased my colleagues joined me in this fight.”

“Abortion providers have absolutely no business receiving PPP loans. It is a scandal that Planned Parenthood received loans through PPP in the first place. The money they received could have gone toward saving your favorite local restaurant or mom and pop shop, but instead Planned Parenthood took this money and used it to kill the unborn. I’m proud to join Senator Marshall in a bicameral effort to right this wrong and explicitly outlaw Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers from receiving these loans ever again,” said Representative Murphy.

“National Right to Life is grateful for the leadership of Senator Roger Marshall and Congressman Greg Murphy in introducing the Abortion Providers Loan Elimination Act. It is inexcusable that the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, continues to take federal dollars under the Paycheck Protection Program, when they are ineligible for funding. This legislation will prevent Planned Parenthood from exploiting the pandemic to supplement its income,” said Jennifer Popik, J.D., Director of Federal Legislation for National Right to Life Committee.

“The Paycheck Protection Program was established with the intention of helping small businesses that were struggling during the pandemic. However, bad actors like Planned Parenthood have improperly received loans through the program. We applaud Dr. Marshall and Dr. Murphy for standing up for Americans who overwhelmingly oppose taxpayer funds being used for abortion and fixing this problem by introducing legislation to explicitly ban abortion providers, like Planned Parenthood, from continuing to receive these funds,” said Jessica Anderson, Executive Director of Heritage Action for America.

So far, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) and U.S. Senators John Barrasso (WY), Marsha Blackburn (TN), John Boozman (AR), Mike Braun (IN), Bill Cassidy (LA), Kevin Cramer (ND), Mike Crapo (ID), Steve Daines (MT), Deb Fischer (NE), Bill Hagerty (TN), Cindy Hyde-Smith (MS), Jim Inhofe (OK), John Kennedy (LA), James Lankford (OK), Cynthia Lummis (WY), Jerry Moran (KS), Rob Portman (OH), Jim Risch (ID), Mike Rounds (SD), Marco Rubio (FL), Rick Scott (FL), John Thune (SD), Thom Tillis (NC), and Roger Wicker (MS) have signed on to the bill.

In the House, so far Rick Allen (GA-12), Brian Babin (TX-36), Jim Banks (IN-03), Andy Biggs (AZ-05), Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Dan Bishop (NC-09), Lauren Boebert (CO-03), Mike Bost (IL-12), Kevin Brady (TX-08), Ken Buck (CO-04), Ted Budd (NC-13), Michael Burgess (TX-26), Kat Cammack (FL-03), Michael Cloud (TX-27), Rick Crawford (AR-01), Jeff Duncan (SC-03), Pat Fallon (TX-04), Michelle Fischbach (MN-07), Cuck Fleischmann (TN-03), C. Scott Franklin (FL-15), Russ Fulcher (ID-01), Bob Gibbs (OH-07), Bob Good (VA-05), Louie Gohmert (TX-01), Garrett Graves (LA-06), Glenn Grothman (WI-06), Michael Guest (MS-03), Andy Harris (MD-01), Yvette Herrell (NM-02), Jody Hice (GA-10), Clay Higgins (LA-03), Ashley Hinson (IA-01), Bill Huizenga (MI-02), Ronny Jackson (TX-13), Jim Jordan (OH-04), Mike Kelly (PA-16), Trent Kelly (MS-01), Doug Lamborn (CO-05), Julia Letlow (LA-05), Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-03), Tracey Mann (KS-01), Brian Mast (FL-18), Marianne Miller-Meeks (IA-02), Alex Mooney (WV-02), Ralph Norman (SC-05), Steven Palazzo (MS-04), Scott Perry (PA-10), Bill Posey (FL-08), Guy Reschenthaler (PA-14), Mike Rogers (AL-03), John Rose (TN-06), Matthew Rosendale (MT-AL), David Rouzer (NC-07), John Rutherford (FL-04), Pete Sessions (TX-17), Greg Steube (FL-17), Ann Wagner (MO-02), Jackie Walorski (IN-02), Michael Waltz (FL-06), Randy Weber (TX-14), Bruce Westerman (AK-04), and Roger Williams (TX-25) have signed on to the bill.

Background:

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the federal government instituted the PPP which was intended to aid small businesses. At the height of the pandemic, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, a national organization with central control over its affiliates, over $2 billion in assets, and 16,000 employees applied for and received millions in PPP money.

In May of 2020, SBA notified 39 Planned Parenthood affiliates that they had wrongfully applied for PPP loans totaling more than $80 million. SBA determined that these affiliates were ineligible for the loans under the applicable affiliation rules, and that the loans they received should be returned. According to the most recently available data, 7 affiliates did so, but the remaining 31 affiliates kept the received funding despite receiving notice that they have received such funds illegally. As of March 23, 2021, 3 of the 31 Planned Parenthood affiliates again applied for and received second draw loans for a combined $4.8 million of additional funding.

The Abortion Providers Loan Elimination (APLE) Act alters the Paycheck Protect Program to make Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers ineligible to receive a PPP loan and claws back the $80 million Planned Parenthood affiliates received. Senator Marshall led this bill in the 116th Congress as a Representative for Kansas’s first congressional district.

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