The Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturned the constitutional right to abortion, leaving the legality of the procedure up to state legislatures. The ruling also placed a renewed focus on abortion providers throughout the US. Some providers have had to shut down operations while others find themselves overwhelmed with new patients traveling from other states where abortion has been recently restricted.
One of the main abortion providers in the US is Planned Parenthood, a nonprofit that runs clinics focused on providing reproductive and sexual health services. While abortions are about 3% of the services it provides to patients, federal restrictions on government funding of abortion have placed scrutiny on their finances. But since Planned Parenthood provides myriad other sexual health services, they still get a significant amount of funding through Medicaid reimbursements and government grants.
About 43% of Planned Parenthood revenues came from government reimbursements or grants in the 2014-2015 fiscal year. Out of the $1.29 billion in total revenue, $553.7 million came from the government reimbursing Planned Parenthood for providing medical services covered by programs such as Medicaid or from government grants from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The remainder of revenues mostly come from donations (27%) and patient fees (24%).
While as a nonprofit Planned Parenthood is required to file 990 forms with the IRS providing some budget data, those forms don’t require detailing specific revenue categories. The Congressional Research Service compiled this more detailed data for FY14-15 in response to congressional interest in the organization’s finances. These are the most recent financial details on Planned Parenthood from a government source.
What is Planned Parenthood?
Planned Parenthood Federation of America is a nonprofit organization providing low-cost reproductive, sexual health, and family planning medical services through clinics across the US. The organization operated a total of 661 health centers or clinics across the US in 2014-2015 through independently managed regional affiliates.
About 45% of services provided in FY14-15 at Planned Parenthood clinics were for sexually transmitted infection tests, 31% were for contraceptive services, and 3% were for abortion services. In that fiscal year, Planned Parenthood patients received a total of 9.5 million services.
How much money does Planned Parenthood receive from the government?
Planned Parenthood receives money from the government in two main ways: reimbursements for providing services to people covered by Medicaid and grants from government agencies, primarily HHS. In FY 2015, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that Planned Parenthood received $390 million in federal and state Medicaid reimbursements, making it the nonprofit's single largest stream of revenue.
That same fiscal year, Planned Parenthood spent $57.28 million in grant money through the HHS Title X Family Planning Services Program.
Title X grants pay for family planning services including contraception, pregnancy tests, STI screening and treatment, and basic infertility treatment. Organizations receiving these grants cannot use the funds to pay for abortion services. In 2022, HHS disbursed $265 million total in Title X grants, including $16 million to Planned Parenthood regional groups.
Planned Parenthood received no Title X grant funding from 2020 to 2021. During those years, HHS prevented grant recipients from referring patients to other providers for abortion services. The nonprofit received Title X grants again in 2022 after the restrictions were lifted that year.
Are government funds to Planned Parenthood used to pay for abortions?
Since 1977, federal funding hasn't been used for abortions. A budget provision, known as the Hyde Amendment, prohibits the use of federal funds for abortions except in the case of rape, incest or a threat to the pregnant person’s life. However, since Medicaid is a federal-state partnership, 16 states do use state Medicaid funds to cover abortions that are medically necessary.[1] States must use their own funds, not federal funding, to pay for these services due to the restrictions of the Hyde Amendment.
[1] The 16 states include Alaska, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.
