Fifteen Minutes of Feminism: The Dark Money Behind the Abortion Bans (with Cecile Richards)

On The Issues With Michele Goodwin

In this episode, we discuss the dark money underwriting anti-abortion laws like Texas's near-total abortion ban, S.B. 8, which bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy with no exceptions for rape or incest AND places a bounty on those who aid or abet people who want to terminate their pregnancies.

But people are fighting back. The Abortion Ban Accountability project—led by Corporate Accountability Action—is calling out corporations who fund legislators who stand against abortion rights and LGBTQ rights. While the #OffTheBANWagon campaign aims to put pressure on several companies, one is singled out in particular: AT&T. The company has spent almost $700k financing the campaigns of the primary sponsors of S.B. 8 in Texas—all while claiming “one of the company’s core values is gender equity and the empowerment of women.”

We’re diving right in with a very special guest:

• Cecile Richards, an activist, reproductive rights advocate and former president of Planned Parenthood. She is also the co-founder of the women’s political action group Supermajority, and co-chair of American Bridge PAC. Most recently, she helped launch the #OffTheBANWagon project, which aims to hold the corporations that bankroll extreme anti-abortion state legislators accountable. Richards is the author of the memoir Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding the Courage to Lead and the daughter of former Texas Gov. Ann Richards.

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Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.
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