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

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

The draft ruling, which was revealed by Politico on Monday night, sparked a frenzy of giving by Individuals to abortion clinics, groups that assist individuals pay for abortions and organizations looking for to protect abortion access.

Beneficiaries included nationwide organizations with massive operating budgets as well as small, unbiased clinics and regional groups which can be typically neglected.

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NARAL Professional-Selection America, a nonprofit that received $12.9 million in donations in fiscal 12 months 2021, noticed a 1,403% increase in donations in the 24 hours after the news broke compared to the day earlier than, spokesperson Kristin Ford mentioned. Fifty-one p.c of donors have been giving for the primary time.

Between Monday evening and midday Wednesday, more than 4,000 donors gave greater than $100,000 to the Abortion Care Network, a nationwide association of 150 impartial U.S. abortion clinics. That was the largest wave of donations over that length of time that the affiliation had ever obtained.

The cash will go on to the clinics and assist them stay open to provide reproductive well being providers even if state legal guidelines prohibit them from offering abortions, the network's Executive

Director Nikki Madsen mentioned.

"We'll proceed to be combating within the states to bring back abortion access," Madsen said. "We need to preserve those clinics open in that interim."

Advocates both for and towards abortion rights say they are going to use the Supreme Court's ruling, anticipated by the tip of June, to mobilize voters for the 2022 midterm elections. Nationwide anti-abortion teams Susan B. Anthony Listing and March for Life didn't instantly reply to inquiries about donations.

Planned Parenthood and Emily's List, groups that advocate for reproductive rights, additionally didn't instantly reply.

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

On Tuesday evening, Oklahoma enacted a law banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, shutting down virtually all abortion services in the state. learn extra

"This is actually the biggest surge (in donations) I've seen in the 13 years I've been doing this work," Massey stated.

The Kentucky Health Justice Community, another abortion fund, received more than 1,000 donations with an average worth of $50 since Monday evening, Operations Director Ashley Jacobs stated on Wednesday. When a Kentucky regulation suspended in-state abortion companies for eight days in April, the community assisted sufferers traveling to Ohio and Indiana for abortions.

Donors additionally gave to organizations in areas that could see an inflow of sufferers seeking abortions as a result of native legal guidelines defend abortion rights.

The DC Abortion Fund, which funds abortions within the nation's capital as well as in Virginia and Maryland, received greater than $105,000 in donations between Monday night and Wednesday morning, spokesperson Devin Simpson said.

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

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Ideas.