THESE COMPANIES AND THE POLITICIANS THEY FUND ARE NOT PRO-LIFE, THEY ARE PRO-FETUS. They work tirelessly to keep corporate tax rates low, to maintain corporate tax breaks, and to keep social safety net programs as well as the American Social Contract grossly underfunded. It is nothing more than corporate greed teamed with the right wing evangelical gospel of greed (the alt-Jesus church) inflicting the hypocrisy of christian sharia on our nation. This is more class warfare against all families in America. Please sign this petition from UltraViolet calling on these six "pro-family" companies to stop funding the anti-choice politicians now, and boycott their products until they do.
Corporate America is one of the largest supporters of anti-choice, anti-women politicians -- even those who claim they are pro-woman. Some of the worst offenders champion anti-choice candidates at the local, state, and federal level, empowering an extremist agenda that is not only anti-abortion and anti-women but antithetical to equality and justice.
As consumers, we have the power to hold corporations accountable and demand they actually stand for the values they sell in PR statements and advertisements.1 This is why UltraViolet is collecting the receipts and launching a major campaign calling out six of the biggest companies in America to stop supporting the dangerous anti-women, anti-justice political agenda.
But we need your help to show that consumers care about reproductive rights and will not stand for corporations funding extremist politicians like Senator Ted Cruz. Recently, Sen. Cruz attempted to pressure the Food and Drug Administration to continue its restrictions on medication abortion. Cruz stated, “Pregnancy is not a life-threatening illness,”2 despite the rising maternal mortality rate in the country, especially for women of color.3 Can you sign our petition?
AT&T, Coca-Cola, Disney, Nike, Procter & Gamble, and Uber: Stop funding anti-choice politicians and invest in reproductive justice instead! | |
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Here are the receipts: Company giving to anti-choice candidates or their associated PACs/committees4
- AT&T: $1,956,953
- Coca-Cola: $1,028,838
- Disney: $203,350
- Nike: $99,000
- Procter & Gamble: $144,000
- Uber: $148,000
The total? Over $3.6 million. The actual total and cost for women around the country? Incalculable. The reality of the impact of these political donations goes beyond the raw numbers. Hundreds of bans and restrictions. Several lawsuits. Clinics closed. Lives disrupted. Futures denied. These corporate titans are complicit in the denial of our rights through their political giving and make these extremist views acceptable and even “normal.” But these views are not normal or acceptable. They are at odds with the majority of Americans who support legal abortion, and the millions of people who need accessible reproductive healthcare.5
Many of these companies have bragged about their social justice cred to consumers in the face of Black Lives Matter and the racial pandemic.6 But what about the Black, Brown, Indigenous, queer, rural, and young people who bear the brunt of the impact of anti-choice policy? 7 Oftentimes, anti-choice views are a sign of a larger framework that is also opposed to racial justice efforts and to science-backed responses to the pandemic. Many of the candidates these contributions support are not just anti-women, they are anti-justice and have harmed our nation’s journey toward progress. Let’s call on these companies and demand they stand by the values they espouse where they can have real impact: their political giving.
All of these corporations claim to support women in their workplaces and, sometimes, in their products or where they will do business. But you can’t say you are for women in the workplace or racial justice but stay silent on reproductive rights. Women live intersectional lives and it is time corporations center intersectional policies.
As consumers, we have the power to change this narrative. Corporations know that increasingly consumers care about the social impact of corporate power and demand more from corporations than one-time donations or PR statements. Corporations have changed their policies in response to consumer pressure. Just last year, UV members organized to force Netflix to denounce the 6-week abortion ban in Georgia.8 This year, we made tech platforms change their moderation policies.9 There is a fierce urgency now. With our rights and lives on the line this election, we need to push on all fronts to ensure reproductive justice now and in the future.
Thanks for speaking out!
--Shaunna, Kathy, Sonja, Melody, Lindsay, Maria, Kimberly, Elisa, KaeLyn, Iris, KD, and Katie, the UltraViolet team
Sources:
1. How Corporate Social Responsibility Influences Buying Decisions, Clutch Report, January 7, 2019
2. 'Pregnancy is not a life-threatening illness': Ted Cruz takes heat in call to ban abortion pill, USA Today, September 3, 2020
3. Huge Racial Disparities Found in Deaths Linked to Pregnancy, The New York Times, May 7, 2019
4. #ReproReceipts, UltraViolet, accessed September 14, 2020
5. 6/7: The Abortion Debate in the United States, NPR/Marist, accessed September 9, 2020
6. Corporate Voices Get Behind ‘Black Lives Matter’ Cause, The New York Times, May 31, 2020
7. Recent abortion bans will impact poor people and people of color most, VOX, May 18, 2019
8. Netflix May ‘Rethink’ Georgia if Abortion Law Takes Effect, The New York Times, May 28, 2019
9. Social media platforms face a reckoning over hate speech, AP Wire, June 29, 2020
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