Members of Congress call for report on federal abortion funding

Last week, more than 110 members of the United States Congress issued a letter calling on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to research and report on all federal funding given over the past three years to specific abortion providers.

According to the letter, the group of U.S. senators and representatives is seeking a report for fiscal years 2022-2024 for “Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Planned Parenthood Federation of America, International Planned Parenthood Federation, [and] MSI Reproductive Choices” and their affiliates, as well as “FPA Women’s Health, American Women’s Services, All Women’s Health Center, [and]and Whole Wom[a]n’s Health” and their affiliates.

A press release from Senator Katie Britt’s (R-Ala.) office notes,”The GAO has prepared several congressionally requested reports on federal funding for these organizations over the years. According to its most recent report, the abortion industry siphoned off nearly $2 billion in federal taxpayer dollars between fiscal years 2019-2021.”

The letter’s signers include Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), John Thune (R-S.D.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), as well as Representatives Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.), Robert Aderhold (R-Ala.), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Steve Scalise (R-La.), Michelle Fischbach (R-Minn.), and approximately 100 other Members of Congress.

They are requesting that the GAO report include information from FQHCs including “Federal obligations, disbursements, and expenditures of federal funds by or to” FQHCs for each of the three years, including “anomalies such as Paycheck Protection Program loans and loan forgiveness,” as well as “data on the number of individuals served and the types of visits provided, including preventative services provided.”

The letter also requests that the report include information from Planned Parenthood Federation of America and affiliates; International Planned Parenthood Federation and affiliates’ MSI Reproductive Choices and affiliates’ and four other abortion providers and their affiliates regarding “Federal obligations, disbursements, and expenditures of federal funds by each of these organizations in each fiscal year, 2022-2024, The funding sources for federal agencies… and any programs associated with these federal funds…. ” and “How these funds were made available (such as by direct funding or pass-through funding).”

In addition to the above, the letter seeks information from Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its affiliates regarding “Reported obligations, disbursements, and expenditures by program for the top 15 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) programs,” and “Reported obligations, disbursements, and expenditures by program from federal agencies other than HHS.”

For “International Planned Parenthood Federation (including affiliates) and MSI Reproductive Choices, formerly Marie Stopes International (including affiliates),” the letter additionally seeks to know “Reported expenditures of federal funding from USAID by funding type.”

The Members of Congress have asked the GAO to project when a report on these requests is likely to be completed, stating that the “[p]roper oversight of public funds and programs is crucial…” and “instrumental for policymakers and the public alike” when determining funding and providing transparency to American taxpayers.

[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by Live Action News.]