Drug company Eli Lilly was one of the most vocal opponents of a sweeping anti-abortion law that passed in its home state of Indiana last August, saying the measure would make it harder to attract talent and force to look outside the state for growth.
But in the weeks and months that followed, Lilly continued to financially support Republican candidates and politicians who support abortion bans across the country, including many who celebrated the overturning of Roe v Wade.
I wasn’t alone.
A Guardian analysis of political donations from other large US companies shows that those who suggested they would help female employees circumvent statewide abortion bans by offering to pay medical costs outside the state for those seeking abortions in states where the option was illegal. continued to financially support candidates calling for abortion bans. They include Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Comcast, Citigroup, AT&T and Amazon.
The analysis suggests that while some of America’s largest employers want to be seen as supporting the reproductive health of their workers and their families, the abortion issue has not affected their financial support to the Republican candidates who have promised to further erode the reproductive rights of these workers.
Lilly made financial contributions to Texas state senators, anti-choice Republicans Charles Schwertner and Charles Perry, and Texas state spokesman Dade Phelan, who has said he sees no need to change the law currently in Texas, which forces women who have been raped to carry their pregnancies to term.
Since Roe was overturned, Lilly has also given financial donations to US Senators Rand Paul, James Lankford of Oklahoma and Mike Crapo, among others who supported the repeal of the right to abortion The company did not respond to a request for comment.
Amazon, the second-largest private company in the US, said it would cover out-of-state abortion travel for employees on its health care plan, but not the contractors who make up the bulk of its workforce.
But even as he promised to help some of his workers gain access to abortion care, he continued to support Republican candidates like Bruce Westerman of Arkansas, who wrote in an op-ed for the Arkansas Democrat Gazette that the fight against abortion was “really”. just getting started.”
“We will always defend the rights of the unborn until abortion is not only illegal in all 50 states, but unconscionable,” he wrote.
Amazon’s political action committee also donated to David Valadao, a California Republican who co-sponsored a “life at conception” act, which he says would guarantee the right to life at “the moment of conception “, and Tony Gonzales, who has an A+ rating from the anti-choice group Susan B Anthony List. Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.
US telecommunications company AT&T has said it would cover the cost of travel for medical procedures within 100 miles of an employee’s home address because it values the health of its employees to ensure they can access “a full range of health benefits when they need them”.
But the company has also backed dozens of Republican candidates since the June 24 decision to overturn Roe, including Texan Jodey Arrington, who has called abortion a “moral stain on the fabric of America” and supports the federal ban on abortion. It has also given Greg Steube, a Florida Republican who has said that with Roe overturned, “no wrongful court decision can block states from applying murder and assault statutes to protect the unborn from abortion” . In Georgia, he supported Republican Andrew Clyde, who has said abortion should be “completely abolished” except if the mother’s life is at risk, and Barry Loudermilk, who tweeted that the work of pro-life community was “just getting started” after the Dobbs Decision struck down the federal right to abortion. In Maryland, AT&T supported Republican Congressman Andy Harris, who said Dobbs had not created a health care crisis, and Jack Bergman of Michigan, who supported a federal ban on abortion.
An AT&T spokesman said the company’s political action committee “has never based contribution decisions on a lawmaker’s position on abortion.”
The spokesperson added: “Our PAC staff contribute to candidates in both parties and focus on policies and regulations that are important to investing in broadband networks and recruiting, developing and retaining a skilled workforce with wages and benefits competitive. It is inaccurate to claim that contributions to elected officials equate to supporting all of their policy positions.”
After Dobbs, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta said it would reimburse travel expenses “to the extent permitted by law” for those who need to access health and reproductive services out of state. But he also supported, among others, candidates like Don Bacon of Nebraska and Bob Latta of Ohio who co-sponsored a bill to ban abortions at the federal level. A spokesperson for Meta did not respond to a request for comment.
Citibank has said after Dobbs that it would offer travel benefits to employees who need “access to adequate resources,” but continued to support Republican candidates who support a national abortion ban, such as North Dakota’s John Hoeven. He also donated to Jerry Moran of Kansas, who has said that life begins at conception and “supports legislation that protects life in its earliest stages and under all conditions.”
Kara Findlay, Citi’s head of corporate communications, declined to comment.
Comcast, the parent company of NBC Universal, has said it would shoulder thousands of dollars in medically necessary travel expenses after Roe was overturned, but continued to make political donations to Republicans who support abortion bans. like Benjamin Cline of Virginia, who once proposed a law. this would mark the anniversary of the Roe v Wade decision as the “Day of Tears,” commemorating “59 million lives lost” due to the protection of abortion services.
The company did not respond to a request for comment.
Are you an employee of one of these companies and do you have a tip? Contact: Stephanie.Kirchgaessner@theguardian.com