CatholicVote joins more than 50 pro-life leaders to call on Trump to debar Planned Parenthood from federal funding
Caroline MolloyCatholicVote has joined more than 50 pro-life leaders in a joint letter urging the Trump administration to permanently block Planned Parenthood from any taxpayer-funded program.
Students for Life Action spearheaded the Oct. 22 letter, which thanked the administration for previous efforts to cut abortion funding but urged a final step: formally debarring Planned Parenthood from every federal program. The coalition included CatholicVote, the American Life League, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life, and the Family Research Council.
The letter asks the administration to invoke the federal Suspension and Debarment process, which allows the government to ban contractors found guilty of misconduct such as fraud, criminal violations, or repeated noncompliance with federal standards.
Signatories said Planned Parenthood’s history meets those criteria, citing “illegal trafficking in baby body parts,” alleged “Medicaid/Medicaid fraud,” “failures to report sex crimes,” health and safety violations, and employee allegations of a “racist work environment.”
“Planned Parenthood’s track record shows that they should not be allowed to receive a single penny of taxpayer support. They are unqualified to work for the American taxpayer,” the letter states. “Given the many complaints against them, the debarment process will allow the federal government to officially find them unqualified and therefore ineligible to participate in any federal programs or to receive any federal funds.”
The letter also urged an end to abortion-by-mail distribution and a safety review of chemical abortion drugs, arguing the mail-order access and abortion pills “have been deadly and exacerbated the harms of abortion.”
Planned Parenthood received nearly $800 million in taxpayer funds, according to its 2023-2024 annual report, making up about 40% of its $2 billion total revenue. The abortion giant killed more than 400,000 preborn babies last year, its highest number yet, CatholicVote has reported.
A February New York Times report documented safety lapses at multiple Planned Parenthood centers nationwide, including unqualified staff, botched procedures, unsanitary conditions, and dangerous delays, CatholicVote reported. In May, a LiveAction undercover investigation found that several facilities were willing to prescribe cross-sex hormones to minors without parental consent or proper evaluation.
