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Washington D.C., Jun 17, 2021 / 09:01 am (CNA).

A pro-life group recently filed a complaint with the U.S. Small Business Administration, alleging that a regional Planned Parenthood affiliate “unlawfully obtained” emergency loans during the pandemic.

In the complaint filed by New Hampshire Right to Life last week, the group said the Planned Parenthood of Northern New England received a $2,717,300 loan from the Paycheck Protection Program. They cited data from the administration showing the affiliate was approved for a PPP loan of that amount in April 2020.

Jason Hennessey, president of New Hampshire Right to Life, said in a statement that “Taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize or pay for abortions.” 

“The SBA has already determined that the Planned Parenthood affiliate structure is such that it was unlawful to apply for the PPP funds; therefore, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England should return the taxpayer funds,” Hennessey said. 

A spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNA. 

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was set up under a pandemic relief bill passed by Congress in March 2020, the CARES Act, and has been administered by the Small Business Administration. It was established to provide emergency loans to small businesses and eligible non-profits to keep employees on payroll; the loans could be forgiven provided certain conditions were met.

The loans were intended for businesses and non-profits with fewer than 500 employees. Planned Parenthood argued last year that its affiliates were individual non-profits with their own leadership structure, and thus would qualify as eligible small non-profits. 

Critics, including Republican senators, argued the affiliates are all part of a broader umbrella organization, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America – and thus the entire organization would be too large to receive the emergency loans. 

The Small Business Administration appeared to make that case multiple times. In one letter, the administration asked a Planned Parenthood affiliate in Delaware to return a loan it had received under the program. In another letter obtained by NPR last year, the administration told Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, Inc. that it was “ineligible” for the loan it received given its relationship to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. 

Last month, the office of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the ranking member of the Senate Small Business Committee, said the SBA did not respond to its inquiry as to why Planned Parenthood affiliates were continuing to receive PPP loans.

It was reported in May 2020 that Planned Parenthood affiliates had received $80 million in emergency loans under the Paycheck Protection Program. In recent months, data released by the SBA showed that two Planned Parenthood affiliates in Pennsylvania and New York were approved for loans on April 21 and April 27. 

Planned Parenthood Keystone, in Warminster, Pennsylvania, was approved for a PPP loan in the amount of $853,975 on April 21. On April 27, Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, Inc. in New York City was approved for a PPP loan of $10 million – the maximum loan amount under the program