Congressman Harris: Taxpayer Dollars are Going to Pro-Abortion Groups

WASHINGTON, DC: Congressman Andy Harris, M.D. (MD-01) condemned findings from a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office report that revealed millions of federal taxpayer dollars are indeed going to fund abortion advocacy organizations. In February of 2013, Congressman Harris and several of his colleagues in the House urged the GAO to investigate how much federal funding went to several abortion advocacy organizations, such as Planned Parenthood. The report found that from 2010 to 2012, the six abortion advocacy groups received $481 million in federal funding, in addition to $1.2 billion in combined federal and state funds within federal health programs that call for shared funding.

“This new report clearly shows that we are in violation of the Hyde Amendment, giving federal taxpayer funds to organizations that perform abortion procedures. As a physician, I find it hard to believe that Planned Parenthood, an organization where 94% of their services are made up of abortions, is not using any of their federal funding for these procedures,” said Congressman Harris.

Under the Hyde Amendment, no federal dollars are to be used to fund abortions, except for in cases of rape and incest. Planned Parenthood performed 327,653 abortions in 2013, yet they only provided 1,880 adoption referrals and 18,684 prenatal services in the same time. They are the largest abortion provider in the United States, and the GAO report found that, despite the Hyde Amendment, they receive more than $500 million a year in federal funding.

Since coming to Congress in 2010, Congressman Harris has fought for pro-life issues, including ensuring that taxpayer dollars are not used to fund abortions, a position shared by a majority of Americans.