Republican lawmakers are demanding that Planned Parenthood be investigated for possibly falsifying or misleading the federal government in requests for COVID-19 relief money.
Sen. James Lankford and Rep. Josh Brecheen, both Oklahoma Republicans, sent the letter, which was signed by 35 other GOP lawmakers, Christi Grimm, the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general.
The lawmakers requested that Ms. Grimm investigate whether Planned Parenthood “provided false or misleading information” in applications for over $20 million in Provider Relief Funding.
The program, known as PRF, was first authorized by lawmakers early on in the pandemic as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
“If it is discovered that Planned Parenthood intentionally falsified information on its applications, we ask that you submit a criminal or civil referral to the U.S. Department of Justice,” the lawmakers wrote.
The PRF was built to distribute funding to health-care providers that the pandemic had financially hurt. The lawmakers contended in their letter that Planned Parenthood made $1.7 billion between 2020 and 2021, and had over $2.5 billion in net assets.
“Planned Parenthood’s financial statements speak for themselves,” the lawmakers wrote. “This organization did not possess a financial need for funds distributed through the PRF, nor should taxpayer dollars be given toward the provision of abortions.”
The group did not give a timetable for when Ms. Grimm should respond.
A spokesperson for the Inspector General’s office told the Washington Times that the office had received the letter and that it is being reviewed.
Planned Parenthood did not return a request for comment.
The money was distributed in three tranches from 2020 to 2022. Payments from the program ceased following the passage of the debt ceiling deal by Congress. In all, the program disbursed $135 billion, according to data from the HHS.
PRF money was disbursed to 34 Planned Parenthood affiliates across the country. The lowest disbursement was for $71, while the highest was $3.08 million to Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, in Vermont.
Part of the call for an investigation is to find out whether Planned Parenthood used the relief money to provide abortions. The program explicitly required in its terms and conditions that PRF money cannot be used for abortions.
The letter offered no financial-fingerprint evidence, beyond the group’s balance sheets and services provided in general, that Planned Parenthood had used the money specifically for abortions.
But the lawmakers did cite a correlation in their letter to Ms. Grimm, noting that the organization performed 383,460 abortions between 2020 and 2021, which was an 8% increase from the previous year despite the pandemic and lockdown requirements.
This was not the first time Mr. Lankford and fellow Republican lawmakers have requested investigations into Planned Parenthood receiving COVID-19 relief funding.
Previously, Mr. Lankford and other Republican lawmakers pushed for an investigation into $80 million of Paycheck Protection Program loans disbursed to Planned Parenthood affiliates.
The lawmakers called foul on the PPP disbursements, saying that Planned Parenthood had “knowingly provided false information” in applications to the Small Business Administration.
The Inspector General for the SBA concluded after an investigation that Planned Parenthood met the PPP loan requirements.
