On last week’s podcast, I detailed one of the pro-life movement’s major disadvantages heading in to the abortion referendums in November: the fact that the mainstream media perpetuates deliberate fabrications. This feedback loop between the media, the politicians, and the activists amounts to tens of millions of free advertising for the abortion industry, and leaves the pro-life movement playing defense, attempting to rebut a conveyer belt of false stories. As the political proverb says: If you’re explaining, you’re losing.
Another major disadvantage is funds. The abortion industry is for-profit, and Planned Parenthood and an assortment of abortion political action groups (PACs) have enormous war chests to utilize. Additionally, the Democratic Party is all in on abortion, leveraging all of their power and influence on behalf of the abortion industry – while the Republican Party under Donald Trump vacillates, equivocates, and retreats to merely opposing late-term abortion. Pro-lifers are often forced to rebut, explain, and persuade the party that once described itself as pro-life.
We got a glimpse of how outmatched the pro-life movement would be from a financial perspective during the 2022 midterms. In Michigan, where abortion activists successfully embedded abortion in the state constitution, “Reproductive Freedom for All” spent $22.5 million on midterm election ads and raised at least $40.2 million. During the 2022 midterms, abortion groups outspent pro-lifers at least 35 to 1.
One major reason for this is that the pro-life movement does not have many “megadonors” willing to pour unlimited cash into abortion battles – but the abortion industry does. Earlier this year, Melinda Gates announced that she would be pouring a small fortune into the abortion wars. There are a few pro-life groups with big donors, but most rely on thousands of committed people giving small amounts. Most of the money is on the “progressive” side of the abortion wars; with the exception of a few groups like SBA List, most pro-life groups simply don’t have the funds to be fighting large-scale, on the-the-ground campaigns nonstop.
A recent article from the Toronto Star reporting that pro-abortion groups are “outraising opponents 8-to-1 on November ballot measures” details the challenge. According to campaign finance data complied by OpenSecrets and examined by The Associated Press:
Amendment backers have raised multiple times as much money and have far more donors, bringing in nearly $108 million compared to $14 million for their opponents as of reports aggregated by Tuesday. Still, it’s not a sure thing that will mean more spending to promote the measures in every state in the final weeks before the Nov. 5 elections. “The apparent differential on campaign finance reports does nothing to reassure me that we will not see large, late spending on these campaigns,” said Kelly Hall, executive director of The Fairness Project, which is providing money and other support for [pro-abortion] groups in several of the campaigns.
Abortion activists have been pouring money into ad buys Missouri and Montana, and in Missouri, “the Open Secrets data shows [pro-abortion] groups have raised more than $5 million, and state filings reflect millions more in contributions, including $1 million from former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The giving has fueled over $11 million in ad spending supporting a measure that would overturn the state’s ban compared with less than $50,000 opposing it. In Montana, pro-amendment groups lead in ad spending, with more than $11 million compared to under $50,000 for opponents.”
In Florida, abortion activists have raised more than $60 million, while pro-lifers have raised only $9 million – but in the Sunshine State, at least, Governor Ron DeSantis is campaigning for the pro-life side. The GOP has spent at least $9.6 million to defeat the amendment, and Florida’s state government website details how “Amendment 4 threatens women’s safety.” Abortion activist donors have opened their deep pockets in Florida, as well:
Planned Parenthood Federation of America and some of its regional affiliates are among those who have kicked in more than $1 million to support the amendments. But the biggest donor so far is Marsha Zlatin Laufer, a frequent contributor to liberal causes. She’s given more than $9 million in Florida. Other [pro-abortion] groups that have given more than $1 million in multiple states include the Sixteen Thirty Fund, The Fairness Project and Advocacy Action Fund, which aren’t required to disclose their donors, as well as the George Soros-connected Open Society Action Fund. Nationally, the [pro-abortion] side also has far more donors: More than 94,000 to fewer than 2,600.
On the opposing side, the big individual contributors are U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, a Nebraska Republican, and his mother, Marlene Ricketts. Each of them has given at least $1 million in Nebraska. Nebraska is the one state where campaign finance filings show the two sides have raised similar amounts of money, with both between $3 million and $4 million.
Interestingly, the only good polling news for pro-lifers recently comes from Florida, where two polls indicate that Amendment 4 may be falling well short of the 60% threshold needed to pass. As Dr. Michael New noted: “Victory Insights released the results of a poll of likely voters it conducted in late September. It has the ballot measure receiving 49.7 percent support. Similarly, a recent New York Times/Siena College poll of likely Florida voters found Question 4 receiving only 46 percent support.” Support for ballot propositions usually falls as the vote approaches, so these polls may bode well for pro-lifers – and, most importantly, for pre-born children.
