This weekend, AT&T responded to two pro-abortion organizations who launched ads against the company for contributing to the campaigns of Republican Texas lawmakers who sponsored the state’s law banning abortions after fetal heartbeat detection.
Two organizations, Corporate Accountability Action and American Bridge 21st Century, created and launched the ads, Fox Businesses reported. The advertisements highlight the company’s donations to lawmakers who supported S.B. 8, the newly-enacted law in Texas that prohibits abortion after fetal heartbeat detection, which occurs at roughly six weeks gestation.
AT&T, which is registered in Delaware, is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. While some Texas-based companies, such as dating app Bumble, have publicly taken a stance against S.B. 8, AT&T kept mum along with several other companies. Corporate Accountability Action claimed that AT&T donated more than $600,000 in two years to over 20 lawmakers who sponsored S.B. 8.
In a statement to Fox Business on Sunday, a spokesperson for AT&T said that the company donates to both Democrats and Republicans and has never asserted a stance on the abortion issues – including S.B. 8.
"AT&T has never taken a position on the issue of abortion, and the Texas legislation was no exception," the spokesperson told Fox Business in a statement. "AT&T did not endorse nor support passage of Senate Bill 8 in the Texas legislature."
In the 2020 election cycle, the AT&T political action committee reportedly donated $1.474 million to Republicans and $1.27 million to Democrats at the federal level. The company itself gave more money to Democrats than Republicans, with $4.1 million going to Democrats and $1.8 going to Republicans.
"AT&T’s employee political action committees have never based contribution decisions on a legislator’s positions on the issue of abortion, and employee PAC contributions to Texas legislators went to both opponents and supporters of Senate Bill 8," the spokesperson said in the statement.
According to Fox Business, the groups plan to target Walt Disney Corporation and NBC-Universal over donations the companies made to lawmakers pushing a similar bill in Florida.
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