President Joe Biden has funneled nearly
20 times as much taxpayer money to the abortion industry as Barack Obama had at
this point in his presidency— according to an analysis by a leading pro-life
organization.
In office for only four months, Biden has directed almost $500-billion in federal funding to the abortion industry through legislation and executive action— in some cases bypassing longstanding restrictions that prevented taxpayer dollars from directly paying for abortion. Of that total, up to $386.7-billion could directly fund abortion, according to the Family Research Council (FRC)— a Washington-based organization focused on traditional values. This puts Biden on course to be the most pro-abortion president in U.S. history, said Connor Semelsberger, Director of Federal Affairs for Life & Human Dignity at FRC— which did the analysis. “If you look at the four years of the Trump Administration, more was done for the pro-life movement in his four years than under eight years of the Bush Administration to advance pro-life policies,” Semelsberger told The Daily Signal. “Now, the Biden Administration is on track to surpass the Obama Administration’s eight years on pro-abortion policies.”
The stimulus bill Biden signed in March exempted $459-billion from long-standing restrictions on taxpayer money going directly to abortion. This included language from the Hyde Amendment that prevents tax dollars for domestic abortions and the Helms Amendment that prevents tax dollars for abortions abroad. Biden and congressional Democrats promoted the $1.9-trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP) as COVID-19 relief legislation. Language such as the Hyde and Helms amendments— imposed years earlier by Congress— didn’t prevent taxpayers’ money from going to the abortion industry. But Planned Parenthood (PP) previously could not use the federal funds for abortion— and could target it only for other health care or overhead issues. Exempting spending from these restrictions allows tax dollars to be used directly for abortions.
“The ARP contains an astounding range of funding streams that lack pro-life protections,” said Melanie Israel, a policy analyst in the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at The Heritage Foundation— the parent organization of The Daily Signal. “For funding both foreign and domestic, the legislation failed to retain the various pro-life policy riders typically attached to federal spending measures to explicitly prohibit abortion funding and abortion coverage in federal programs,” Israel said.
During the debate over the ARP, Reps. Jackie Walorski (IN-R), Cathy McMorris (WA-R), and Virginia Foxx (NC-R) offered an amendment similar to the Hyde Amendment— to prevent the bill from funding abortions. This amendment gained 203 co-sponsors, but was voted down by the House’s Democratic majority.
“On top of the ARP, the Biden Administration is currently working to rescind the Trump Administration’s pro-life protections for the Title X family planning program,” Israel told The Daily Signal. “Planned Parenthood walked away from the program over the Trump Administration’s pro-life policies. If this regulation is finalized, Planned Parenthood will once again have access to millions in federal family planning funds.”
In addition to spending in the “stimulus” bill, Biden’s executive actions have provided another $12.1-billion to the abortion industry. Most recently, a $10-million forgivable loan through the Paycheck Protection Program went to PP of Greater New York, and another $850,000 loan through the program went to PP Keystone in Warminster, PA. During the pandemic, however, PP clinics throughout the USA also got such loans during the Trump Administration.
In breaking down the $459-billion for abortion included in Biden’s stimulus bill, the FRC cites several funding avenues, including direct funding for abortions and money for abortion lobbying overseas. Funds from the ARP that could be used to pay for abortion directly include $350-billion for state and local governments that don’t have guardrails against funding abortions. This money is tilted toward blue states such as California and New York, according to FRC. As passed, the ARP also includes $8.5-billion that could be used to fund PP; $7.6-billion for public health workers; and $7.6-billion for community health centers.
FRC notes that about $704-million could subsidize abortions overseas. This includes $500-million in humanitarian grants to the United Nations that lack Helms Amendment protections to prevent the U.N. from using the money to pay for abortions. Moreover, about $10-billion could be used overseas to lobby in favor of abortion. The bulk of that, $8.7-billion, is aimed at contraception and sterilization and could go to entities such as International PP Federation and MSI Reproductive Choices, according to FRC.
At home, $81.7-billion will go to health plans that cover abortion and $50-million to the Title X family planning program that could be directed to PP and other abortion businesses that previously withdrew because of the Trump Administration’s pro-life changes.
Neither the White House nor the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) responded to inquiries for this report. PP Federation of America also did not respond to a request for comment.
Biden’s executive actions also opened up $12.1-billion in funding for abortion— mostly outside the USA.
Two days into office, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris issued a statement marking the 48th anniversary of the SCOTUS’s Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion on demand in every state. They said: “In the past four years, reproductive health, including the right to choose, has been under relentless and extreme attack. We are deeply committed to making sure everyone has access to care— including reproductive health care— regardless of income, race, ZIP code, health insurance status, or immigration status.” The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to codifying Roe v. Wade and appointing judges that respect foundational precedents like Roe.
On Jan. 28, Biden signed an executive order rescinding a Trump Administration policy (Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance) that prohibited tax dollars from going to foreign nongovernmental organizations that perform or promote abortion. Biden’s executive order also withdrew the U.S. from the Geneva Consensus Declaration— a U.S.-led agreement among 34-countries that declared abortion is not an international human right and shouldn’t be promoted as a method of family planning. The order took steps to resume funding for the United Nations Population Fund— which promotes abortion.
In April, the HHS Office of Population Affairs published a proposed rule to rescind the Trump Administration’s Protect Life Rule governing Title X by the end of the year. This was in response to Biden’s Jan.28 executive order. That same month, the Food and Drug Administration stopped enforcing federal regulations that require chemical abortion pills to be dispensed in person. Also in April, the National Institutes of Health announced plans to repeal a Trump Administration policy restricting taxpayer funding for research using tissue from aborted babies.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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