Senator Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, is calling on the Internal Revenue Service to investigate whether Planned Parenthood affiliates are abusing their tax-exempt status by selling cosmetic procedures such as Botox injections to generate revenue after losing much of their taxpayer funding.
In a March 26 letter to Robert Malone, director of Exempt Organizations and Government Entities at the IRS, Blackburn highlighted reports of Planned Parenthood affiliates providing neurotoxin injections similar to Botox and other aesthetic treatments “to ‘attract a new clientele’” while operating as 501(c)(3) charitable organizations.
“Planned Parenthood Mar Monte in Northern California — the organization’s largest affiliate — now operates a dedicated aesthetics program, marking a significant shift from the organization’s claim to be a charitable health care organization providing public health services,” Blackburn wrote.
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Blackburn pointed to the Working Families Tax Cut Act (Public Law 119-21), which imposed restrictions on federal Medicaid funding for tax-exempt abortion businesses. She argued the new services represent an effort to offset lost revenue.
“Let’s be clear what is actually occurring here. Planned Parenthood, in an effort to abuse its 501(c)(3) status, is appealing to the women’s beauty market after the Working Families Tax Cut Act (Public Law 119-21) imposed a restriction on federal Medicaid funding for tax-exempt community abortion providers,” Blackburn stated.
She cited Planned Parenthood Mar Monte President and CEO Stacy Cross, who stated the affiliate broadened its services to “keep [our] doors open” and fill the estimated $100 million revenue gap for that abortion affiliate alone.
Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, headquartered in San Jose and operating about 30 abortion centers in California and Nevada, began selling Botox injections at $9 per unit — below rates at many medical spas — along with IV hydration therapy and nitrous oxide for pain management. The move followed the closure of some centers and staff layoffs after federal funding changes.
Blackburn asked the IRS to clarify guidance for tax-exempt organizations offering elective cosmetic procedures, determine whether such activities constitute unrelated business income that should be reported and taxed, and review whether any federal funds or facilities indirectly subsidize the services.
She also questioned whether the cosmetic offerings fall within Planned Parenthood’s claimed “crucial resources” as a charitable health care provider.
