Accountable Allies — Abortion
When the Supreme Court decided Dobbs v. Jackson, ending federal protection of the right to abortion and opening the door for criminalization in states hostile to abortion rights, many Americans were shocked and outraged. Some corporations quickly announced they would cover expenses should their employees need to travel out of state to access abortion care, but new research conducted by Data for Progess shows dozens of these same companies donate to the campaigns of anti-choice politicians responsible for state-level abortion bans.
Abortion rights supporters can encourage corporations to go beyond vague promises and instead implement meaningful, equitable policies in addition to ceasing these hypocritical political donations. In the second edition of our Accountable Allies project, Data for Progress empowers advocates with tools to hold companies accountable for acting out of step with their publicly stated values and announcing assistance for employees living under abortion bans while simultaneously donating to the campaigns of the politicians enacting those same bans. These resources include a compilation of political contributions made by specific companies, polling results from Data for Progress that demonstrate that these contributions reduce brand favorability, and a policy memo to facilitate a deeper understanding of this complex issue and provide recommendations for both corporations and advocates seeking to hold them accountable.
Think you know these companies?
Together they donated a total of
to 780 Anti-abortion legislators
POLL: Voters Disapprove of Corporate Donations to Anti-Abortion Politicians
New Data for Progress polling conducted from September 16-19, 2022, surveyed 1,297 national likely voters to test voters’ attitudes toward corporations that fund anti-abortion lawmakers.
Nearly two-thirds of likely voters disapprove of corporations that donate to lawmakers who sponsor legislation that restricts or bans abortions.
Voters’ favorability of a corporation decreases when they are told about the company’s donations to anti-abortion lawmakers. Notably, Amazon and Microsoft’s net favorability both decline by 61-point margins.
Forty-five percent of voters say that knowing a corporation funded lawmakers who sponsor anti-abortion legislation would negatively impact their opinion of the company. This includes 61 percent of Democrats and 54 percent of Independent voters. A plurality of Republican voters (41 percent) say that knowing about the donations would not positively or negatively impact their opinion.
