Rep. Engel Blasts Trump Administration for Playing Politics With Reproductive Health Care During Pandemic

WASHINGTON, May 30 -- Rep. Eliot Engel, D-New York, issued the following news release:

Congressman Eliot L. Engel, a Member of the House Pro Choice Caucus with a 100% pro-choice voting record, joined his colleagues on a letter to the Trump Administration demanding that they stop their efforts to strip federal relief dollars from Planned Parenthood clinics.

"Once again, the Trump Administration is using a veil to launch a political attack on Planned Parenthood and undermine access to reproductive health care," said Rep. Engel. "This latest bit has nothing to do with Planned Parenthood's eligibility for federal dollars, but is yet another tactic to deflect from the Administration's failure to curb the pandemic, which has claimed far too many New Yorkers."

The Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration (SBA) have launched an ideologically-driven investigation into the loans that Planned Parenthood received as part of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which helps non-profits and businesses affected by the coronavirus outbreak. Congressman Engel joined over 160 of his Democratic colleagues in a letter to the Treasury Department and SBA demanding that they stop these investigations and efforts to rescind the PPP loans given to Planned Parenthood clinics, which are safety-net facilities that provide comprehensive reproductive health services to vulnerable communities.

Congressman Engel has been a longtime supporter of Planned Parenthood and advancing reproductive rights. Last year, he helped introduced the Women's Health Protection Act, H.R. 2975, which bans states from enacting medically unnecessary restrictions that limit a woman's access to comprehensive reproductive health services, including abortions care. On February 12, 2020, he helped secure a hearing for this legislation in the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee. On February 5, 2020, as Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, he led a hearing on challenges women across the globe face in accessing health care services.