The Trump administration ensured that Planned Parenthood clinics would not receive rescue funds through the Paycheck Protection Program, according to multiple reports Thursday.
The program was part of the larger Cares Act and helps small businesses stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. The loans are forgiven if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest or utilities.
The Trump administration, though, determined Planned Parenthood clinics were ineligible.
“Through the Paycheck Protection Program, President Trump is delivering vital relief to help small businesses keep employees on payroll,” a senior White House official told Fox News. “It’s clear that the abortion industry shouldn’t be able to qualify for those funds, which are desperately needed by small businesses.”
The Daily Signal first reported the news.
“President Trump is committed to ensuring Paycheck Protection Program money is used for saving jobs at small businesses, not getting the government into the business of funding abortion,” a senior White House official told The Daily Signal.
“While not all Americans share President Trump’s pro-life beliefs, there is broad bipartisan support for the idea that American taxpayers should not have to fund abortion,” the official added.
The Paycheck Protection Program applies only to businesses with fewer than 500 employees. Planned Parenthood does not qualify, the official told The Daily Signal, because it exceeds that number.
Small Business Administration regulations define “when small employers might be so closely affiliated with a parent organization that they should be considered one large employer,” the official said.
“While each Planned Parenthood affiliate has fewer than 500 employees, nationwide it has over 16,000 employees,” the official said. “So when applying PPP’s affiliation rules neutrally, it’s clear that Planned Parenthood is one large employer and not eligible for PPP money. The interim final rule made crystal clear that an organization with Planned Parenthood’s corporate structure doesn’t qualify.”
Related:
Pro-Life Win: High Court Upholds Law Requiring Ultrasounds before Abortions
Despite Popular Belief, Women Are More Pro-Life than Men, Gallup Poll Says
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Zach Gibson
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
