Contributor: ATTWN Staff
For decades, federal taxpayer dollars have not been technically allowed to pay for abortions under the Hyde Amendment. Rep. Henry Hyde was an ardent supporter of life and ensured that this provision was included in all budget bills. But here’s the thing: taxpayer dollars could absolutely go to these same abortion clinics through Medicaid for reimbursements for everything else done in the abortion clinic: STD testing, birth control, well-woman exams, counseling, sex-ed instruction. Abortion clinics have been raking in government funding in millions for years and years. Almost 40% of Parenthood’s income comes from taxpayer dollars, which means they are able to keep those clinics open and provide abortions due to that money rolling in.
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin announced they will “stop scheduling patients for abortions starting next week as it works to find a way to provide the service in the face of Medicaid funding cuts in President Trump’s tax and spending bill.”
Why would abortion be affected if Medicaid isn’t contributing in some massive way to keep those abortion clinics open?
“All the money we received went into the same account at the Planned Parenthood where I worked for eight years,” said Abby Johnson, CEO and Founder of And Then There Were None and ProLove Ministries. “We paid for salaries, overhead costs, birth control, everything – from the same account.”
Medicaid Fraud
Medicaid funds are usually dispersed to clinics through reimbursement requests, which, history shows, have been abused by these abortion clinics to the tune of millions of dollars.
In the Associated Press story on Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin halting abortion services, it reads that “Planned Parenthood services include cancer screenings, sexually transmitted infection testing, and treatment. Federal Medicaid money was already not paying for abortion, but affiliates relied on Medicaid to stay afloat.” So, taxpayer funding was ultimately keeping this abortion clinic open.
In 2016, Planned Parenthood System in North Carolina had to pay $1.5 million for submitting claims to Medicaid that were for services not provided or for those that did not follow the standards provided by Medicaid.
In 2017, the Charlotte Lozier Institute released a report that revealed:
- Planned Parenthood affiliates have been identified as the source of at least $12.8 million in waste, abuse, and potentially fraudulent overbilling and penalties.
- One audit uncovered $5.2 million in overbilling by two California Planned Parenthood affiliates; the average overbilled amount per audited year in a single audit was $94,409.
- Three federal audits specifically identify Planned Parenthood – and only Planned Parenthood – as the problem in state family planning program o” erbilling.
“I saw this all the time at Planned Parenthood – the overbilling of Medicaid for simple services. For example, a pack of birth control costs us only $4, but we would bill Medicaid $35 for the same pack. It added up,” said Johnson.
Abby Johnson filed a lawsuit in 2012 against her former employer for Medicaid fraud, one of several lawsuits alleging similar misconduct. The late Sue Thayer, who worked for Planned Parenthood in Iowa for 20 years, also filed a lawsuit against her former employer, alleging $28 million in Medicaid fraud.
Planned Parenthood Defunding
“This is why Planned Parenthood needs to be permanently defunded. No taxpayer dollars should ever go to any abortion facility because that money will be used to keep the clinic open for abortions, even if the taxpayers aren’t going directly from the government to the abortionist,” said Johnson.
“President Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ doesn’t go far enough in defunding Planned Parenthood, and it’s time that politicians who claim to be pro-life but whose words don’t translate into actions lobby to permanently defund the abortion giant.”