The nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, is continuing its support of the Women’s March after Tablet magazine made headlines for reporting allegations of anti-Semitism against Women’s March leaders. But the Women’s March isn’t the only organization that receives funding here; Planned Parenthood does too – from 60 companies.
On Dec. 10, Tablet’s report by Leah McSweeney and Jacob Siegel captured nationwide attention. According to sources, at an initial Women’s March meeting, organizers Tamika Mallory and Carmen Perez “asserted that Jewish people bore a special collective responsibility as exploiters of black and brown people” and “claimed that Jews were proven to have been leaders of the American slave trade.” Today, Mallory is co-president of the Women’s March, and Perez is a board member. Both denied the incident.
Evvie Harmon, formerly a global coordinator, remembered a scene where Mallory and Perez were facing founding organizer Vanessa Wruble and “berating her” about “being Jewish.”
“‘Your people this, your people that,’” Harmon remembered them saying, before adding, “I was raised in the South and the language that was used is language that I’m very used to hearing in rural South Carolina. Just instead of against black people, against Jewish people.”
As a former spokesperson and head of the D.C. chapter, Mercy Morganfield told Tablet that not only have “Most of the Jewish people resigned and left,” but also the organization’s leadership “refused to even put anti-Semitism in the unity principles,” the principles of the march’s mission.
Those comments, along with other findings, caused an uproar online – except by the Women’s March sponsors and partners.
As National Review staff writer Alexandra DeSanctis found, “not one of the more than 100 partners and sponsors of the Women’s March has raised a fuss over the story.” And the partners and sponsors that have spoken did so in support – most notably, the Women’s March’s “exclusive premiere sponsor,” Planned Parenthood.
In a Dec. 13 statement to Refinery29, Planned Parenthood’s senior communications director Erica Sackin said her organization was “proud” to stand with the Women’s March:
"...Planned Parenthood is proud to once again, join our progressive partners for the #WomensWave mobilization to protect and advance the progress we've made as a movement dedicated to equity and justice for all people.”
She added that Planned Parenthood must “unequivocally reaffirm, as the Women's March leadership has, that there is no place for anti-Semitism, homophobia, transphobia, or any kind of bigotry in our communities, our progressive movement, and our country.”
Earlier this year, the Women’s March condemned anti-Semitism, after its leaders were called out for connections to Nation of Islam’s anti-Semitic leader Louis Farrakhan. And, although unknown to Sackin at the time, Jewish women were finally included in the march’s principles on Nov. 20.
Sackin concluded that her organization would “continue to work with the Women’s March to hold ourselves and each other accountable to the Unity Principles that are the basis of our partnership.”
But if Planned Parenthood can hold the Women’s March accountable, then Planned Parenthood’s sponsors should also hold the abortion provider accountable – and keep watch even as the Women’s March claims to change.
In a list updated June 21, 2nd Vote, a “conservative watchdog for corporate activism,” named companies and nonprofits that have directly funded Planned Parenthood. 2nd Vote launched in 2013 under the idea that, after casting a ballot, Americans vote a second time with their money. Those companies are:
1. Adobe*
2. Aetna*
3. Allstate*
5. Amgen*
6. AutoZone
7. Avon*
8. Bank of America*
9. Bath & Body Works**
10. Ben & Jerry’s*
12. Boeing*
13. BP
14. Charles Schwab
15. Clorox*
16. Craigslist
17. Converse***
18. Deutsche Bank*
19. Diageo
20. Dockers***
21. Energizer
22. Expedia*
23. ExxonMobil*
24. Fannie Mae*
25. Freddie Mac*
26. Frito Lay**
27. General Electric*
28. Groupon (partners with Planned Parenthood)
29. Intuit*
30. Jiffy Lube**
31. JPMorgan Chase
32. Johnson & Johnson*
34. Kraft Heinz*
35. Levi Strauss*
36. Liberty Mutual*
37. March of Dimes (individual chapters)
38. Microsoft*
40. Monsanto*
41. Morgan Stanley*
42. Nike*
43. Oracle*
44. Patagonia
45. PayPal*
46. PepsiCo
47. Pfizer*
49. Prudential*
50. Qualcomm*
51. Starbucks*
52. Shell
53. Susan G. Komen
54. Unilever
55. United Airlines*
56. United Way (individual chapters)
57. US Bank*
58. Verizon
59. Wells Fargo
*The extent of this company’s giving is matching gifts to Planned Parenthood
**The parent company gives to Planned Parenthood
***The parent company matches gifts to Planned Parenthood
In addition to those 60, 2nd Vote lists 243 other companies that have “supported 3rd party groups that fund Planned Parenthood.”
“Of Planned Parenthood’s $1.3 Billion in yearly revenue, over 25% comes from private donations, including corporate contributions,” 2nd Vote noted. “We encourage you to reach out to these companies; let them know why you spend your dollars elsewhere.”
That’s likely because, after media publicized 2nd Vote’s list of Planned Parenthood company funders two years ago, Macy’s halted funding for Planned Parenthood after consumers complained.
Money speaks – and it begins at the bottom, with Americans’ second vote.
Update: WD-40 was erroneously listed by 2nd Vote and in this article as funding Planned Parenthood. They do not directly fund Planned Parenthood and have been removed from the list.