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The enemies of Texas’s strict abortion ban target companies that have donated money to sponsors of the law in hopes that consumers will pressurize American companies to join the fight against a wave of restrictions.
What you need to know
- The television and digital ads began last week to highlight AT & T’s contributions to Texas Republican lawmakers.
- Pressing companies to draw support and business from states that pass controversial laws has had some success. North Carolina lost $ 3.76 billion in business after a law passed in 2016 banning transgender people from using the toilet that matches their identity
- There are plans to expand the campaign to Florida, where a similar abortion proposal has been made
- Some companies, including customer management firm Salesforce, dating app Bumble, and ridesharing Uber and Lyft, rejected the Texas abortion law after it went into effect a month ago
The television and digital ads, launched last week by Corporate Accountability Action and American Bridge 21st Century, the Democratic Party’s opposition research division, highlight AT & T’s contributions to Texas Republican lawmakers. There are plans to expand the campaign to Florida, where a similar abortion proposal has been made.
Proponents of abortion rights in Texas face the nation’s strictest abortion law in one of the most populous states, as well as a conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court and a surge of GOP lawmakers wanting their states to be next. Democrats and their allies on this issue are looking for new ways to turn frustration into leverage.
“This is a moment in our country where there is no middle ground. You really can’t be on the sidelines, ”said Cecile Richards, former president of Planned Parenthood and current co-chair of American Bridge 21st Century.
Texas law has greatly slowed the number of abortions, forced clinics to turn down hundreds of women, and encouraged patients to seek the procedure in other states, which has resulted in a growing backlog.
Texas had about two dozen abortion clinics before the law went into effect on September 1. At least six clinics resumed abortions after six weeks of pregnancy after a federal judge blocked the law Wednesday, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights. But late Friday, an appeals court allowed the restrictions to resume pending further argument. The sued Biden administration has until Tuesday to respond.
The Texas ads are aimed at AT&T, of which Corporate Accountability Action donated more than $ 645,000 over the past two years to nearly 22 lawmakers who sponsored the action. The Dallas-based telecommunications company also donated thousands to Democratic lawmakers.
In Florida, the group criticized companies like Walt Disney for donating $ 262,000 to the more than two dozen lawmakers who sponsored proposed abortion restrictions over the past two years. NBC Universal gave those lawmakers $ 83,500 and about $ 88,000 in Texas, CAA found.
AT&T said it was a statement that it took no position on abortion or endorsed the law known as Senate Law 8, and gave money to lawmakers on both sides.
Representatives from NBC and Walt Disney, who have also donated to Democrats at other times, did not immediately respond to email messages asking for comments.
The two groups eventually plan to expand the campaign to a dozen states where lawmakers have stated that they want to model their own laws based on the Texan measure.
The Texas prohibition prohibits abortion once cardiac activity is detected, usually around six weeks, which for many women is before they know they are pregnant. The law’s unusual enforcement mechanism prevented it from being blocked by the Supreme Court: individuals, not the state, have the power to enforce the law through civil suits that can gross them $ 10,000.
Pressing companies to draw support and business from states that pass controversial laws has had some success. North Carolina lost $ 3.76 billion in business after a law passed in 2016 banning transgender people from using the toilet that matches their identity. This pressure resulted in a lifting.
This year, the effect was more subdued on GOP-backed election revision laws, which critics cited attempts to suppress the Democratic vote. Republicans like Georgia Governor Brian Kemp held onto the move even after Major League Baseball decided to move the All-Star game out of Atlanta in 2021.
Some companies, including customer management firm Salesforce, dating app Bumble, and ridesharing Uber and Lyft, rejected the Texas abortion law after it went into effect a month ago.
But that didn’t stop Tesla CEO Elon Musk from announcing on Thursday that he would be moving the electric car maker’s headquarters from the San Francisco Bay Area to Austin, a technology center and the capital of Texas.
The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday, but on September 2, Musk tweeted that he believes that “the government should seldom impose its will on people while trying to maximize their cumulative happiness. Nevertheless, I would prefer to stay out of politics. “
Anti-abortion group Texas Right to Life pointed out that companies that donate may not support everything that candidates stand up for. “We hope that the people in Texas and the companies in Texas do not bow to the ‘demolition culture'”, said spokeswoman Kimberlyn Schwartz.
Proponents of abortion rights say the companies they call on support politicians whose positions contradict the public messages that companies use to attract consumers.
“On the one hand, you can’t say ’empower women,’ and on the other hand, your political money goes to people who are literally disempowering women,” said Richard. “That kind of accountability is frankly long overdue.”
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