Planned Parenthood spends 'unprecedented' amount of money on lobbying post-Roe
Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the abortion giant's advocacy arm, has spent a massive amount of money on lobbying efforts since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, the 1973 decision that made abortion legal nationwide.
OpenSecrets, a nonprofit organization that tracks campaign finances and lobbying efforts, released a report earlier this month showing that Planned Parenthood Action Fund has spent “unprecedented” sums of money on lobbying in the past three months.
An analysis by the nonprofit organization noted that this is the most the abortion advocacy group has spent during the second quarter of a year.
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“Planned Parenthood Action Fund spent over $739,000 in the first half of 2022 on federal lobbying on issues including abortion access, with about $170,000 spent in the year’s first quarter,” OpenSecrets reported.
“This comes after the organization reported a 4,000% increase in donations after the Supreme Court released its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization majority opinion in June.”
“Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s pressure campaign has focused on lobbying for the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, as well as pushing for key bills in the U.S. House and Senate,” it continued.
Both National Right to Life Committee and the pro-life organization Susan B. Anthony List focused lobbying efforts on multiple bills in 2022, including the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.
The bill, introduced last January, would make it a criminal offense to commit or attempt an abortion at 20 weeks gestation.
Susan B. Anthony List spent over $260,000 on federal lobbying during the second quarter of 2022, according to OpenSecrets, a $30,000 decrease from the year’s first quarter. In addition, NRLC saw a $20,000 decrease in its second spending quarter.
The Planned Parenthood Action Fund also lobbied for the Women’s Health Protection Act, a bill that would have codified abortion into federal law. The act passed the House last year and was supported by the Biden administration, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
However, the act came up short of the 60 votes required to invoke cloture and begin debate on the legislation in the Senate, with 48 senators voting in favor of cloture and 46 senators voting against it.
“It’s essential that the Senate pass the Women’s Health Protection Act without delay,” Planned Parenthood Action Fund said in an online campaign.
Pro-life leaders celebrated the bill’s failure, with Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, condemning what she perceived to be the legislation’s extremism.
“We thank all our pro-life allies in the Senate who spoke out about the extremism of this bill and helped defeat it,” she said.
“Biden, Pelosi, and Schumer’s ‘Abortion on Demand Until Birth Act’ would enshrine an unlimited abortion ‘right’ in federal law and block common ground pro-life laws around the country.”
“In calling for this bill to be passed, Chuck Schumer referred to abortion as ‘sacred’ and a ‘fundamental right’ — proving that pro-abortion Democrats could not be more radically out of touch with the American people,” she added. “Those who sided with the abortion lobby to trample the will of the people will face political consequences.”
Planned Parenthood’s political arm also lobbied for military service members to have abortion access, as OpenSecrets reported. The MARCH for Military Servicemembers Act, introduced by Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, D-N.Y., in June, the bill would require the Department of Defense to cover the costs of servicemembers’ abortions at military medical treatment facilities.
The bill has been read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services but has yet to pass the House or Senate.
