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

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

The draft ruling, which was published by Politico on Monday night, sparked a frenzy of giving by People to abortion clinics, groups that help individuals pay for abortions and organizations looking for to preserve abortion access.

Beneficiaries included nationwide organizations with giant working budgets as well as small, impartial clinics and regional groups that are usually missed.

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NARAL Professional-Choice America, a nonprofit that received $12.9 million in donations in fiscal 12 months 2021, saw a 1,403% increase in donations within the 24 hours after the news broke compared to the day before, spokesperson Kristin Ford stated. Fifty-one p.c of donors have been giving for the first time.

Between Monday night time and midday Wednesday, more than 4,000 donors gave more than $100,000 to the Abortion Care Community, a nationwide affiliation of 150 impartial U.S. abortion clinics. That was the biggest wave of donations over that size of time that the affiliation had ever received.

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

Director Nikki Madsen mentioned.

"We're going to continue to be combating within the states to bring again abortion entry," Madsen mentioned. "We have to hold these clinics open in that interim."

Advocates each for and in opposition to abortion rights say they'll use the Supreme Court's ruling, expected by the tip of June, to mobilize voters for the 2022 midterm elections. National anti-abortion groups Susan B. Anthony List and March for Life did not instantly respond to inquiries about donations.

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

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

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

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

The Kentucky Health Justice Community, another abortion fund, received greater than 1,000 donations with a median value of $50 since Monday night time, Operations Director Ashley Jacobs mentioned on Wednesday. When a Kentucky legislation suspended in-state abortion providers for eight days in April, the network assisted patients traveling to Ohio and Indiana for abortions.

Donors additionally gave to organizations in areas that would see an inflow of patients seeking abortions as a result of local legal guidelines shield abortion rights.

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

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

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Rules.