Nonprofit Tax and IRS Enforcement

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R‑Tenn., has sent a March 26 letter to the IRS urging it to examine whether Planned Parenthood affiliates that offer cosmetic procedures such as Botox‑type neurotoxin injections are abusing their 501(c)(3) tax‑exempt status. Citing a recent KCRA TV interview, Blackburn focuses on Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, the group’s largest affiliate, which is launching a dedicated aesthetics program in its 30 centers in California and Nevada and marketing cut‑rate Botox injections at about $9 per unit, below typical medical‑spa prices. She argues the affiliate is pivoting into the women’s beauty market to fill an estimated $100 million revenue gap created after the Working Families Tax Cut Act restricted federal Medicaid funding for tax‑exempt community abortion providers, quoting CEO Stacy Cross’s comment that the new services are meant to "keep [our] doors open." Blackburn asks IRS exempt‑organizations chief Robert Malone to spell out what guidance applies to tax‑exempt charities offering elective cosmetic services, how the agency decides when such revenue becomes unrelated business income, and whether Planned Parenthood affiliates have reported these earnings properly. The move signals a new line of attack by abortion opponents that targets Planned Parenthood on tax and charity‑law grounds, not just on direct federal grants, and could pressure the IRS to clarify how far nonprofits can go in commercial side businesses to offset policy‑driven funding cuts.