We may have seen it coming but it’s still a shock: All of a sudden, we live in a post-Roe world. Everyone is scrambling to understand what this means: Trigger laws are snapping into place in some states, zombie laws are stirring to life in others. Clinics in some parts of the country are shutting their doors, while facilities in other states are gearing up for an onslaught of patients. Americans are coming to terms with the fact that we’ve lost a constitutional right — one that we’ve relied on for decades.
What is philanthropy’s role in the post-Roe world? There’s a lot of room for improvement, as philanthropy has failed to do enough to protect abortion rights over the years. Many funders sidestepped the issue as too controversial; others focused too much on national abortion policy, overlooking organizations doing key work at the state and local level. Overall, funders simply didn’t give enough. According to the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, “Between 2015 and 2019, there was nearly $1.7 billion in foundation funding for reproductive rights issues, but only 21% was explicitly designated for abortion rights and services, while less than 2% was specifically designated for abortion funds.”
The anemic funding has meant that groups working in the trenches have had to compete for scarce dollars. As the Packard Foundation’s Tamara Kreinin told IP even before the Roe reversal, “I think the fighting for resources, both at the state and local level, and at the national level, causes the community to fight amongst themselves and to frankly just be exhausted and bedraggled.” Meanwhile, supporters of abortion rights must contend with a robust network of anti-abortion philanthropists, some open about their agendas and others working anonymously through donor-advised funds.
A recent IP guest post written by representatives of top abortion rights organizations charts the multiple giving strategies necessary to support reproductive justice going forward. These leaders also encourage philanthropies new to the issue to get involved: “We welcome funders and donors who want to join our collective efforts, especially anyone who is newly committed or reenergized by the latest news in this struggle.”
We hope to see more funders and billionaires step up in the days, weeks and months ahead. Meanwhile, there are several large foundations and donors who have been stalwart supporters of reproductive rights, as IP has reported over the years. They include large institutional funders, progressive family foundations, and even a few living mega-donors. Many foundations doubled down on their support in response to the Trump administration’s many-layered assaults on abortion rights. And since the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling came down, individual donors and foundations alike have been giving more to support the cause, with those working on the ground calling for more and steadier funding as they strategize in the face of new restrictions to come.
Here is a roundup of some of the largest and most active funders of abortion rights and access, how they approach the issue, and how some of them have responded to the Dobbs ruling.
Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation
Named after Warren Buffett’s late wife, the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation (STBF) is by far the largest funder of reproductive healthcare in the U.S.; it gave more than $1.6 billion for reproductive health between 2016 and 2020, and over $265 million of that was specifically for abortion, according to Candid.
While this is well known, STBF is quiet about its abortion funding, and has been since one of Berkshire Hathaway’s subsidiaries was threatened with a boycott in the early 2000s, as IP reported. Since that time, grantees do not publicize the fact that they receive Buffett funding, and a glance at the foundation’s website only provides information on its scholarship funding.
Still, according to IP’s State of American Philanthropy report on Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice, the foundation “has made an outsized impact through its support of services, advocacy, policy and research on access to contraception and abortion, among other areas of reproductive healthcare.” Planned Parenthood, the National Abortion Federation, NARAL, and the National Network of Abortion Funds have all been recipients of STBF funding over the years.
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
When the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe was announced, Larry Kramer, the head of the Hewlett Foundation, quickly shot back, making it clear that Hewlett intends to remain in the struggle: “Together with our partners and grantees, we’ll increase our efforts to meet the urgency of this moment, taking the fight to each and every state where the battle must be fought, without losing sight of the future we want for our children — a future of full and equal rights and opportunities,” Kramer wrote.
In March, Hewlett’s board increased its funding for reproductive equity work in the U.S. by 30%, bringing its annual funding to almost $20 million; it is also continuing to support legal and advocacy efforts, as IP reported.
Over the years, Hewlett has backed many abortion rights organizations, including the National Abortion Federation, Whole Women’s Health Alliance, Groundswell Fund, the Guttmacher Institute and URGE: Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity.
David and Lucile Packard Foundation
The Packard Foundation also had a powerful response to the Supreme Court decision. In a post titled “Today we grieve, tomorrow we build,” Nancy Lindborg, the foundation’s president and CEO, said the ruling puts the U.S. out of step with the rest of the world, and will have a profound impact on low-income communities and communities of color.
Meanwhile, the foundation remains unwavering in its commitment to build “an equitable world where everyone can make decisions about their bodies and families,” according to Lindborg, and will give an additional $14.1 million in 2022 to support abortion rights advocates at the national and state level.
The new funds come on top of Packard’s support for a number of abortion rights and access organizations, including the Abortion Care Network, the National Abortion Federation, and the National Network of Abortion Funds. Packard has a particular focus on the southern states and has made equity a priority in its reproductive rights funding, according to IP’s report: “Examples of organizations funded in 2021 include a $250,000 grant to The Lighthouse Black Girl Projects to support Beyond the Ballot, a project that is invested in political education programs to shift the reproductive justice narrative and raise civic engagement conversations in Mississippi.”
Ford Foundation
Another champion of abortion rights, the Ford Foundation has consistently pushed for equity in access to reproductive healthcare. Between 2017 and 2020, the foundation made grants totaling $59 million to 66 organizations “to support efforts to guarantee that all women — particularly women of color, low-income women, gender nonconforming/nonbinary people, and rural women — have the ability to choose whether to have a child and when, to give birth safely, and to raise children in a healthy, thriving environment,” according to a summary of the foundation’s Advancing Reproductive and Gender Justice strategy.
Ford gave over $83 million for reproductive healthcare from 2018 to 2022, and $900,000 of that was for abortion, according to Candid data. In a statement responding to the recent Supreme Court decision, Ford President Darren Walker made clear its commitment, “Today and during the months and years ahead, we at the Ford Foundation remain in steadfast support of the many advocates, experts and organizers who are advancing reproductive justice across the nation, across states and cyberspace, even as the attacks on abortion intensify in frequency and severity.”
JPB Foundation
This foundation is a relative newcomer compared to some of these longstanding abortion rights funders, and is better known for supporting environmental causes and economic justice, as IP has reported. Still, the JPB Foundation, which was built on the fortune of investor (and Bernie Madoff backer) Jeffry Picower and is headed by his widow, Barbara, has supported reproductive rights since its founding in 2011.
JPB maintains a spare website that doesn’t mention abortion, and it has issued no statements in response to the recent Supreme Court decision, but between 2018 and 2022, its support for reproductive healthcare totaled over $115 million; $55,500,000 of that was for abortion, according to Candid. Grantees include Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights.
Open Society Foundations
It isn’t a primary focus for George Soros’ sprawling network of foundations, but Open Society Foundations (OSF) has long been a champion of reproductive healthcare.
OSF’s response to the gutting of Roe was swift, and reflects the organization’s global focus: “The majority’s decision will not only wreak untold harm on women and families in the U.S., it could have reverberating damage around the world, rolling back hard-won advances in other nations and emboldening anti-choice movements,” pointed out Laleh Ispahani, co-director of Open Society-U.S. George Soros himself blasted the decision on Twitter, and in a later opinion piece called it “part of a carefully laid plan to turn the U.S. into a repressive regime, particularly targeting women regardless of the devastating consequences.”
From 2015 to 2019, OSF’s funding for reproductive healthcare was more than $2 million, according to Candid, but only a small fraction was specifically for abortion.
Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies
Charles and Lynn Schusterman established their foundation in 1987 to invest “in the potential of young people.” Compared to some others on this list, Schusterman is another more recent funder of reproductive rights and justice. Its grantees include Planned Parenthood of America and some of its affiliates, If/How/When: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice, and the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, among other organizations.
After the Dobbs decision, Stacy Shusterman, the foundation’s chair, said in a statement, “We remain committed to working with our grantees and other funders to fight for reproductive rights and reproductive justice. Now is the time to double down to preserve and expand access to abortion services to the greatest extent possible and to lay the groundwork for longer-term movement building.”
From 2015 to 2021, Schusterman Family Philanthropies provided reproductive healthcare grants totaling close to $11 million, according to Candid (funding for abortion wasn’t specifically identified).
MacKenzie Scott
In her firehose of recent funding, Scott and husband Dan Jewett included $275 million in funding to Planned Parenthood — the largest gift the organization has ever received from a single donor. Scott also provided $15 million to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive healthcare research organization, and gifts to the Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justices, and Upstream USA. As IP’s Philip Rojc wrote recently, “In one fell swoop, Scott has become one of philanthropy’s foremost advocates for reproductive rights, a cause that could certainly use more champions these days.”
Michael Bloomberg
Former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg has been a longtime supporter of abortion rights, as he wrote in an op-ed earlier this year: “Over the years, I’ve given $50 million to support reproductive rights in the U.S., including recent donations of $14 million to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and the Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity.” After the ruling, Bloomberg wrote on Twitter, “The Supreme Court’s ruling is the worst attack on the rights of American women in generations — but it will not be the final word. We must make our voices heard at the ballot box.”
Intermediary Funders
Public intermediary funders don’t have as much money to give away as private foundations, but several play an important role when it comes to supporting abortion rights and access. One intermediary, the Groundswell Fund, for example, gives money to grassroots groups fighting for reproductive justice; 90% of those groups are led by women of color.
The Ms. Foundation for Women, another intermediary, gave more than $2.7 million for reproductive healthcare between 2018 and 2020, according to Candid, and $485,000 for abortion. Early this year, the foundation announced a $100,000 grant to Access Reproductive Care - Southeast (ARC-Southeast), an organization that provides abortion access in southern states. Groundswell and the Ms. Foundation are part of a coalition that recently issued a pledge, The Time is Now: Join Bold Philanthropic Pledge to Protect Abortion Access and Reproductive Justice.
Future funders of abortion rights?
We’re keeping our eye on Melinda French Gates, who co-founded and co-leads the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with her husband, Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates. While the foundation has been a powerful advocate of reproductive healthcare over the years, it has stopped short of funding access to abortion services, a position that French Gates has defended — and received criticism for — in the past.
Now that the two have parted ways, will French Gates take a more proactive position on abortion? That remains to be seen, but her response to the Supreme Court ruling was blistering: “Today, a government in which women have never had an equal voice reached deep into the most private corners of a woman’s life to tell her the choice over what she does with her body is no longer her own. This is America taking a big step backward,” French Gates wrote on LinkedIn.
Bill Gates also slammed the reversal of Roe, calling it “an unjust and unacceptable setback,” and pointing out that the decision will put women’s lives at risk, “especially the most disadvantaged.” Will he put his money where his mouth is?