Planned Parenthood receives federal money through various sources, one of the biggest being Medicaid reimbursements.
The organization performed more than 400,000 abortions, and received more than $792 million from taxpayers, according to the report.
More than 40% of Planned Parenthood’s revenue comes from government reimbursements and grants.
Annual reports show the group taking in tens of millions from the federal government for a billion-dollar budget.
Known for abortion, Planned Parenthood offers other services as well, which means it’s able to skate around the Hyde Amendment which specifically prohibits use of federal funding for abortion except in extreme cases.
Reconciliation debates continue
As Congress works to finalize its budget reconciliation package to advance to President Donald Trump, the House version currently includes language that would defund Planned Parenthood. Revisions to the bill before a floor vote are ongoing.
“We’ll see where they finally end up with the product,” Sen. Steve Daines (R-Montana) said on Washington Watch Tuesday. “They’ve got to get a vote on the House floor, and the margins are very thin, just a handful of votes.”
Daines expressed confidence in House Speaker Mike Johnson to guide the abortion restrictions across the finish line.
“He is a godsend to our country. There's one leader that can unite and pull that House together with the thinnest of margins. He's got the toughest job every day when he walks into the office,” Daines told show host Tony Perkins.
Daines did not offer a prediction on the Senate’s prospects for defunding Planned Parenthood.
“First and foremost, let's hope and pray it survives the House mark, and then we'll live to play the next round here in the Senate, at least protecting and preserving those provisions that will be in the House bill,” Daines said.
The “backdoor” to Planned Parenthood through Medicaid makes funding a tricky conversation and basically makes the Hyde Amendment irrelevant.
“If it weren’t for federal taxpayer dollars, they’d have a hard time surviving. We’re having a fight, a battle here on Capitol Hill that we should be able to defund organizations that use taxpayer dollars for elective abortions. That’s exactly what Planned Parenthood is,” Daines said.
Pro-life state legislators from across the country this week, 183 total, have joined in a letter to Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and other congressional leaders urging them to include a measure to defund “Big Abortion,” in the budget reconciliation bill, The Daily Caller reported.
The state lawmakers say now is the time for Republicans to unite and take advantage of their majorities, now matter how slim, in each chamber of Congress.
“As pro-life state legislators from across the country who are members of the National Pro-Life Leaders Network, we are deeply concerned with the way that big abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood prey on unborn children and hurt women, all while receiving hundreds of millions of dollars from American taxpayers,” the letter reads. “With a Republican trifecta in Washington, it is time to use the budget reconciliation process to defund big abortion providers like Planned Parenthood.”
Breaking down the votes
Republicans had a five-seat at the beginning of the 119th Congress, but the Democrats have two vacancies after the deaths in March of representatives Sylvester Turner of Texas and Raul Grijalva of Arizona.
Republicans currently have 53 seats to Democrats’ 45 in the Senate. Independents Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine caucus with Democrats.
Some Republicans in blue states have raised questions about defunding Planned Parenthood, Perkins noted.
“Margins on both sides are thin. There’s not a lot of room for error. If we get 50 (Senate) Republicans supporting us then (Vice President) J.D. Vance breaks the tie, and we’ve got it. The magic numbers are 218 in the House and 50 plus one in the Senate,” Daines said.
