//The Trump administration is demanding that Planned Parenthood affiliates give back their PPP loans

The Trump administration is demanding that Planned Parenthood affiliates give back their PPP loans

Supporters of Planned Parenthood gather for a news conference and demonstration on February 25, 2019 in New York City. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Planned Parenthood says it’s politically motivated.

Earlier this year, 38 Planned Parenthood affiliates around the United States received over $80 million in loans from the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Now, the Small Business Administration (SBA) is pressuring those affiliates to return the loans, arguing that they were not eligible for them in the first place.

The loans, distributed as part of a program designed to help small employers keep paying their staff during the economic crisis brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, were crucial for the clinics that received them, Planned Parenthood representatives say.

In normal times, the clinics provide reproductive health services from STI testing to contraceptive counseling to abortion. But with coronavirus spreading across the country, clinics