Some charities that publicly claim to be pro-life advocates face scrutiny for supporting abortion that contradicts their stated mission. Critics argue that these charities undermine the pro-life cause by funding programs or supporting initiatives that provide access to abortion services while advocating for a life to be saved. This perceived inconsistency has sparked controversy among pro-life advocates, who demand for charities to provide more transparency and accountability.
American Life League, the oldest Catholic grassroots pro-life organization in the United States, created a charity watchlist to warn pro-life donors to beware of donating to charities without looking behind the scenes. Through extensive research, the organization found out that a significant amount of charities that advocate for life are large supporters of abortion and LGBTQ “rights.”
The American Life League created an online tool that helps donors identify which charities are pandering to the left and quietly supporting such anti-life agendas.
Its stoplight green-yellow-red color coding allows donors to decide whether to “go ahead” and donate to a nonprofit without hesitation, “proceed with caution” after being aware of potential risks, or “stop” supporting an organization that endorses abortion.
The organization’s national director, Katie Brown, said the tool was designed to help donors know what they are supporting with their hard-earned money.
“We can be deeply moved by pictures of sick children or stories about disabled veterans and never know that the charity we support is financing programs that promote abortion or encourage anti-life agendas,” Brown said.
A few examples include the American Heart Association’s (AHA) “abortion partnership.” Previously, AHA was given a positive green rating on the charity watchlist for its life-affirming stance of not allowing human embryos and fetal tissue to be used by grant recipients in AHA-funded research. However, in 2023, the organization found that its programming partnered with a Virginia Planned Parenthood affiliate.
“According to the Centers for Disease Control, 680,909 people died from heart disease in the United States in 2023,” Brown added. “Yet that is a figure that is only 67 percent of 1,026,700, which is the number of children who were killed the same year, according to the Planned Parenthood-founded Guttmacher Institute. The fact that an organization with a mission seeking to save lives would partner with America’s abortion giant is uncomprehensible.”
The Wounded Warrior Project was also flagged. While the charity was previously classified as “green,” the organization, which helps veterans, has now been designated “red” because it refers women to the Department of Veterans Affairs for abortions.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has also received a negative rating due to its anti-life ties despite basing its entire charity on saving children’s lives.
“It’s distressing,” Brown said. “St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital seeks support with heartbreaking pictures and stories of sick children, yet multiple members of the organization’s medical staff and teaching faculty are ending the lives of preborn children through embryonic stem cell research.”
American Life League has strongly supported the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which will be enacted under the new Trump Administration and headed by Elon Musk and Republican businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. Musk recently announced that DOGE would pull government funding from Planned Parenthood— a move that has received applause from many pro-life organizations, including the American Life League.
In 2020, Planned Parenthood received $670.4 million in taxpayer money and cumulatively paid its affiliate CEOs $16.8 million, an average of over $317,000.
Brown noted that while those who perform the abortions take home six-figure salaries, 70 percent of the women who receive the procedure have an annual household income of less than $40,000.
“The continued unauthorized granting of taxpayer dollars to a business that systematically profits by selling abortions is unconscionable,” Brown said. “We urge the new administration to shut down this cash cow that is financing the decimation of America’s future by sucking taxpayer dollars to line CEO pockets.”