Amazon donates to Republican group that supports hardline anti-abortion

Amazon, DoorDash and CVS Health are among major U.S. companies publicly committed to supporting reproductive rights, but who nevertheless contributed this year to a group supporting the re-election of Todd Rokita, Indiana’s Republican attorney general who has supports a total ban on abortion.

He was also reprimanded by his state’s Supreme Court for criticizing a doctor who performed an abortion on a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim.

The corporate donations, detailed in publicly available documents, were made to the Republican Attorneys General Association, or Raga, a “527 committee.” – a tax-exempt political campaign group, ostensibly referencing the US tax code. It exists to direct nationally donated funds to key state races.

In 2024, Amazon, Doordash and CVS Health donated a combined $425,000 to Raga. And Raga has given $255,000 to Rokita, who has also participated in a lawsuit against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over housing for workers who undergo abortions; signed amicus briefs in a U.S. Supreme Court appeal of the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, an abortion pill; and sought access to private health records to prosecute women seeking abortions.

Altria, AT&T and Comcast are also among the major public companies publicly supporting reproductive rights while donating to Raga, who supports campaigns for US Attorney General. (In 2024, Altria has given $450,000, AT&T $125,000, and Comcast $125,000.)

Donations to Republican and Democratic committees have long been tracked by the Center for Political Accountability, a Washington think tank, which highlights donations to Raga and Rokita.

In August, Bruce Buchanan, professor of business ethics at New York University’s Stern School of Business, said in an introduction to a CPA report on 527 committees: “Their power far exceeds their media presence. American citizens have little awareness of their influence, much less their financing and methods. This is a shame.

“… As major corporations open their checkbooks to these 527s – and especially to the Republican Attorney Generals Association (Raga) – these funds will elect and re-elect state officials who actively promote policies that run counter to stakeholder groups in society.”

Many major U.S. companies have made public statements about support for employees in light of Dobbs v. Jackson, the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down the federal right to abortion, and the resulting state bans.

In May 2022, after Dobbs was leaked, Amazon told its employees that it would pay up to $4,000 in travel expenses for non-life-threatening treatments, including abortions, if no surgery was available within 100 miles of an employee’s home . In 2024, with strict post-Dobbs bans in Republican-led states including Indiana, where Rokita has advocated for an outright ban, Amazon has given Raga $150,000.

In June 2022, shortly after Dobbs, a DoorDash spokesperson said the company would cover “certain travel-related costs” for employees forced to leave the state for abortion care, adding, “It is of the utmost importance that all DoorDash -employees and their dependents covered by our health care plans have fair, timely access to safe health care.” This year, Doordash paid $150,000 to Raga.

CVS Health has said it is committed to “making out-of-state abortion care services more accessible and affordable” for employees in states with abortion bans. In 2024, it gave Raga $125,000.

The pattern of companies donating to Rokita through Raga – and other politicians who conflict with professed corporate values – is repeating itself with regard to climate policy. Amazon, Doordash and CVS Health are also publicly committed to taking action to combat climate change. In Indiana, Rokita is prominently involved in lawsuits against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Securities and Exchange Commission over carbon emissions standards.

None of the companies responded to requests for comment. Last year, in response to Guardian reporting about donations to 527 committees used for efforts to pass a strict abortion ban in North Carolina, a spokesperson for the software giant Intuit outlined a corporate defense.

“Our financial support does not indicate full endorsement of every position taken by any individual policymaker or organization,” the spokesperson said. “Intuit is nonpartisan and works with policymakers and leaders from both sides of the aisle to advocate for our customers. We believe that engagement with policymakers is essential to a robust democracy and that political donations are just one of the many ways Intuit engages on behalf of its customers, employees and the communities it serves.”

In the same report, a Bank of America spokesperson said 527 committees could only use their donations for “operational and administrative purposes, and not to support candidates or ballot initiatives.” The CPA argued that since 527 commissions exist to elect governors, attorneys general, and other state officials, this is a distinction without any difference.

In a statement to the Guardian about donations to Raga by companies publicly committed to supporting rights that Republican attorneys general have attacked, Bruce Freed, president of the CPA and co-author of the 2024 report, said: “The current political climate makes it even more important that companies have policies and a framework for approaching, managing and evaluating the risks of political spending.

“They need this to take control of their spending and protect themselves.”

Mike Schmul, the chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party, said his party’s candidate against Rokita, Destiny Wells, was “the only candidate in the race for AG who has won the support of Hoosiers first, not special interests and mega-interests from outside the state. -donors.

“Todd Rokita is out of touch with the issues that matter, attacking women and doctors and threatening the medical privacy of Hoosiers. The choice is clear.”