The Dark Money Behind Abortion Bans

The Dark Money Behind Abortion Bans
7/20/2022 by Karen DeWitt

Are big corporations really pro-women? Their massive contributions to anti-abortion state lawmakers prove otherwise.



Most major corporations these days claim to have a core commitment to women’s rights.

Amazon says the company promotes “gender equality and empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and communities.”
AT&T says its core values include “gender equity and the empowerment of women.”
Coca-Cola says there is “overwhelming evidence that achieving equality and empowerment for women has broad ripple effects that are good for society.”
CVS claims to be working “to support the unique health needs of women at every age.”

Some companies even declare their support for abortion rights: Amazon, which touts its commitment to equity in the workplace, has said it will pay travel expenses for “non-life-threatening medical treatments including abortions … [if] not available within 100 miles of an employee’s home.” But behind the scenes, many corporations are propping up lawmakers behind some of the most extreme anti-women legislation of our time. Their political donations not only go directly to these politicians—the money also flows just as deliberately, but less easy to detect, through a maze of organizations, political action committees (PACs), trade associations and dark money vehicles that hide both the recipient and the source of the funds.

Deniability

Judd Legum, who researches and writes Popular Information, an online independent newsletter, has done ground-breaking investigations into corporations’ political donations when what the companies say doesn’t match what they do. The surprise is just how many corporate name brands integral to our daily lives—AT&T (your mobile phone or home internet), Exxon (fuel for your car)—have donated millions of dollars to leading anti- abortion lawmakers across the country. In a May report, Legum cataloged a complete list of double-dealers since 2016: AT&T, Amazon, Citi, CVS, Coca-Cola, Google, Walmart and Verizon all had contributed significant funds to political organizations supporting extremist anti-abortion politicians. This, despite their public statements supporting women’s rights.

Despite public support for women’s rights, since 2016 these corporations have donated massive amounts to Republican organizations that fund anti-abortion senators, governors and state legislators in the U.S.

Significant corporate donations to Republican politicians make their way through the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), which, according to its website, works to “recruit, train and elect Republicans to multiple down ballot, state level offices”—as well as through the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the State Government Leadership Foundation (SGLF) and the Republican Governors Association (RGA).

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“We all deserve better from elected officials and from corporations that we count on for the goods and services that we need,” said Amy Weintraub, the program director for reproductive rights at Progress Florida, about the state’s 15-week ban on abortions. “It’s alarming that these corporations are giving money to extremist lawmakers.”

https://msmagazine.com/2022/07/20/dark-money-abortion-bans-corporations-business-amazon-att/