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Texas enemies’ strict abortion ban targets businesses that have donated to bill sponsors, hoping consumers will pressure U.S. businesses to join the fight against a wave restrictions.
TV and digital ads launched last week by Corporate Accountability Action and American Bridge 21st Century, the opposition research arm of the Democratic Party, highlight AT&T contributions to Republican lawmakers in Texas. There are plans to expand the campaign to Florida, where a similar abortion proposal has been introduced.
Abortion rights advocates in Texas face the country’s toughest abortion law in one of the most populous states, along with a conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court and a wave of GOP lawmakers who want 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 time in our country where there is no common ground. You really can’t sit on the sidelines, ”said Cecile Richards, former president of Planned Parenthood and current co-chair of American Bridge 21st Century.
Texas law dramatically slowed the number of abortions, forcing clinics to turn away hundreds of women and leading patients to seek the procedure in other states, creating growing backlogs.
Texas had about two dozen abortion clinics before the law came into effect on September 1. At least six clinics have resumed performing abortions after six weeks of pregnancy after a federal judge blocked the law on Wednesday, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights. But on Friday evening, an appeals court authorized the resumption of restrictions pending further arguments. The Biden administration, which had filed a complaint, has until Tuesday to respond.
The ads in Texas target AT&T, which, according to Corporate Accountability Action, has donated more than $ 645,000 over the past two years to nearly 22 lawmakers who sponsored the measure. The Dallas-based telecommunications company also donated thousands of dollars to Democratic lawmakers.
In Florida, the group is criticizing companies such as Walt Disney for its $ 262,000 in donations to among more than two dozen lawmakers who have sponsored proposals for abortion restrictions in the past two years. NBC Universal gave these lawmakers $ 83,500, and some $ 88,000 in Texas, according to the CAA.
AT&T has said it does not take a position on the abortion issue or endorse the law known as Senate Bill 8, and has given money to lawmakers on both sides.
Representatives for NBC and Walt Disney, who have also donated to Democrats at other times, did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
Both groups ultimately plan to expand the campaign to the dozen states where lawmakers have said they want to model their own laws based on the Texas measure.
The Texas ban bans abortions once heart activity is detected, usually around six weeks, before many women know they are pregnant. The unusual law enforcement mechanism has kept it from being blocked by the Supreme Court: private citizens, not the state, have the power to enforce the law through civil suits that can bring them back. $ 10,000.
Lobbying businesses for support and business from states that pass controversial laws has some success. North Carolina lost $ 3.76 billion in business after passing a law banning transgender people from using the toilet that matches their identity in 2016. This pressure led to a repeal.
This year, the effect has been more muted on GOP-backed election review bills that critics have called attempts to suppress Democratic votes. Republicans like Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp have stuck to the measure, even after Major League Baseball’s decision to move the 2021 All-Star game out of Atlanta.
Some companies, including customer management company Salesforce, the dating app Bumble, and ride-sharing companies Uber and Lyft, have opposed the Texas abortion law after it came into effect a month ago.
But that didn’t deter Tesla CEO Elon Musk from announcing Thursday that he would move the headquarters of the electric automaker from the San Francisco Bay Area to Austin, a technology hub and the capital of Texas.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday, but on September 2, Musk tweeted that he believed “the government should rarely impose its will on the people and in doing so should aspire to maximize their cumulative happiness. . Having said that, I would prefer to stay out of politics.
Anti-abortion group Texas Right to Life has pointed out that companies donating may not support everything the candidates stand for. “We hope that the people of Texas and the businesses of Texas do not bow down to the ‘culture cancellation’,” said spokeswoman Kimberlyn Schwartz.
Abortion rights advocates say the companies she calls support politicians whose positions contradict public messages the company uses to attract consumers.
“You can’t say on the one hand ’empower women’ and on the other hand your political funds go to people who are actually literally robbing women of their power,” said Richard. “This kind of responsibility is frankly long overdue.”
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