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The Trump administration followed through this week on its promise to Americans that coronavirus stimulus funds will not be distributed to Planned Parenthood.
Congress allotted $2.4 trillion in aid for the global health crisis through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, last month. The spending package includes $349 billion for small businesses, and many expressed concerns about abortion facilities being able to qualify for the stimulus.
Businesses may qualify for the funds if they have fewer than 500 employees. Planned Parenthood as a whole employs more than 16,000 people in the U.S., but its local affiliates could meet the under-500 limit, prompting concerns, according to the report.
But this week, a Trump administration official stated that the money will go to small businesses, not Planned Parenthood. The billion-dollar abortion conglomerate performed abortions on more than 345,000 babies last year – its biggest money maker.
“Through the Paycheck Protection Program, President Trump is delivering vital relief to help small businesses keep employees on payroll,” the senior administration official said. “It’s clear that the abortion industry shouldn’t be able to qualify for those funds, which are desperately needed by small businesses.”
“The interim final rule made crystal clear that an organization with Planned Parenthood’s corporate structure doesn’t qualify,” the official continued. The aid package “has regulations called ‘affiliation rules’ to define when small employers might be so closely affiliated with a parent organization that they should be considered one large employer.”
The Trump administration defended the action, noting that there is “broad bipartisan support” for limits on taxpayer funding for abortions. Polls consistently find strong opposition to taxpayer-funded abortions.
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This is not the first action by President Donald Trump and his administration, which has been described as the most pro-life presidency in American history, to stop taxpayer funding from going to Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion groups.
He also halted funding to the pro-abortion World Health Organization (WHO) in April. Weeks earlier, the WHO faced criticism when it falsely claimed abortions are an essential service during the coronavirus pandemic.
In one of his first acts as president, Trump defunded two of the world’s largest abortion chains, the International Planned Parenthood Federation and Marie Stopes International, of about $170 million in American tax dollars.
He has been pushing back aggressively against the United Nations’ pro-abortion agenda and insisting that countries support women and children, born and unborn. In 2017, Trump stopped giving American tax dollars to UNFPA because it pushes abortions on other countries and has worked with China for decades to implement its forced abortion population control policies. Trump renewed the order again in 2018 and 2019. The decision cut $32.5 million in funding from the UNFPA budget.
At the national level, Trump also has taken steps to defund Planned Parenthood of millions of taxpayer dollars through Title X and other programs. However, some of these efforts have been thwarted by lawsuits and pro-abortion state leaders who are giving state taxpayer funds to the abortion chain to replace Trump’s cuts.
Last year, his administration also introduced new restrictions to stop taxpayer dollars from funding research using aborted baby body parts.
–Lifesite News
