Rochester, NY – Federally-focused Political Action Committees (PACs) and 527s with a pro-choice mission contribute a total of 25 times more than those with a pro-life mission, according to a report released this week by Feminists Choosing Life of New York (FCLNY). The sources for the compiled financial data are the Federal Elections Bureau and The Center for Responsive Politics for the 2010 and 2012 election cycles.
Despite a nearly even pro-life/pro-choice split in recent opinion polls on abortion (http://www.gallup.com/poll/1576/abortion.aspx), pro-choice organizations funnel significantly more money into elections.
In the 2012 Election Cycle, pro-choice EMILY’s List ranks 6 in expenditures out of 5,927 non-party PACs. No pro-life PAC is ranked.
The highest-spending pro-choice 527 contributed almost $10 million, compared to $521,443 by the highest-spending pro-life 527.
The highest-spending pro-choice political action organization spent seven times more than the highest-spending pro-life equivalent in 2012.
By filing under separate sectors, creating several affiliated entities, and channeling funds through related organizations under the same leadership, special interest groups focused on abortion rights attempt to conceal the extent of their funding. The financial asymmetry of pro-choice and pro-life contributions comes as a concern to FCLNY, particularly in light of the recent donor-disclosure exemption awarded to NARAL Pro-Choice NY ( http://washingtonexaminer.com/abortion-champion-naral-exempted-from-andrew-cuomos-lobby-disclosure-laws/article/2532477)
“Campaign finance is already a complicated system with loopholes available to those savvy enough to navigate and manipulate it,” says Rachel Peller, graduate in Women and Gender Studies and researcher at FCLNY. “The recent NARAL exemption further obscures the extent of special interest funding.”
Feminists for Nonviolent Choices (formerly Feminists Choosing Life Feminists Choosing Life of New York) is a nonpartisan, nonsectarian organization that seeks to return to the grassroots of pro-life feminism, operating from the core ideals of justice, nondiscrimination and nonviolence.
Photo by Tax Credits, some rights reserved.
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