Donations to U.S. abortion rights groups, clinics surge after Supreme Court leak

Could 4 (Reuters) - Donations have flooded into abortion clinics and abortion-rights advocacy groups for the reason that leak of a U.S. Supreme Court draft ruling that confirmed the justices apparently poised to overturn the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade resolution.

The draft ruling, which was published by Politico on Monday evening, sparked a frenzy of giving by Americans to abortion clinics, groups that help people pay for abortions and organizations looking for to protect abortion access.

Beneficiaries included national organizations with massive working budgets in addition to small, unbiased clinics and regional teams that are usually missed.

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NARAL Pro-Choice America, a nonprofit that received $12.9 million in donations in fiscal year 2021, saw a 1,403% increase in donations within the 24 hours after the information broke compared to the day earlier than, spokesperson Kristin Ford mentioned. Fifty-one p.c of donors had been giving for the primary time.

Between Monday night time and noon Wednesday, more than 4,000 donors gave greater than $100,000 to the Abortion Care Community, a nationwide association of 150 unbiased U.S. abortion clinics. That was the most important wave of donations over that length of time that the affiliation had ever received.

The money will go on to the clinics and assist them stay open to offer reproductive well being services even if state legal guidelines prohibit them from offering abortions, the community's Govt

Director Nikki Madsen mentioned.

"We'll proceed to be fighting in the states to convey again abortion access," Madsen mentioned. "We need to maintain these clinics open in that interim."

Advocates each for and against abortion rights say they are going to use the Supreme Courtroom's ruling, expected by the top of June, to mobilize voters for the 2022 midterm elections. National anti-abortion teams Susan B. Anthony List and March for Life did not instantly respond to inquiries about donations.

Planned Parenthood and Emily's Record, groups that advocate for reproductive rights, also did not immediately reply.

The Roe Fund, an abortion fund in Oklahoma that offers money to the state's clinics to help patients' procedures, had more than 8,000 donors contribute greater than $50,000 on Tuesday, the fund's Treasurer Janice Massey stated.

On Tuesday night, Oklahoma enacted a law banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, shutting down almost all abortion services within the state. learn more

"That is definitely the largest surge (in donations) I've seen within the 13 years I've been doing this work," Massey stated.

The Kentucky Well being Justice Network, one other abortion fund, received greater than 1,000 donations with a mean worth of $50 since Monday night time, Operations Director Ashley Jacobs stated on Wednesday. When a Kentucky law suspended in-state abortion providers for eight days in April, the network assisted sufferers touring to Ohio and Indiana for abortions.

Donors additionally gave to organizations in areas that could see an inflow of patients seeking abortions because local laws defend abortion rights.

The DC Abortion Fund, which funds abortions in the nation's capital in addition to in Virginia and Maryland, obtained greater than $105,000 in donations between Monday evening and Wednesday morning, spokesperson Devin Simpson stated.

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Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Cynthia Osterman

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