“They’re just going to let me die?” Madison Anderson asked. Her doctor ruled it too risky to perform an abortion. Anderson shared the following: The New York Times she’d been informed the fetus would not live after birth — and carrying it could kill her.
Due to the Supreme Court, many Americans now face life-threatening crises. overturning Roe v. WadeThe first is how to get safe abortion. The next is a possibility. national abortion banIf Republicans take the Senate and House in the 2022 midterms. Justice Clarence Thomas even wrote that the court’s rulings on things like contraception and gay marriage may be overturned.
Why has the GOP acted so brutally against the right to abortion that a majority in the U.S. supports? Part of the reason is that the Republican drive to power has found Christian nationalism useful. Funded by a 1 percent of megadonors and corporations, the religious right, like Frankenstein’s monster, has grown to a grotesque size. It is true that some of the most powerful people and corporations in the globe finance Christian nationalists, who then attack the already limited freedoms of people of color, LGBTQ people, and poor people. The wealthy and politicians they pay often violate the biblical codes they have made into law. The danger has increased. The danger is growing. A Republican White House, Senate and House, as well as the Supreme Court, could overthrow democracy and create a Christian nationalism state. This would be supported by ultra-wealthy donors who view attacks on fundamental rights merely as a tool to secure their power.
Jesus Christ Personal
A cruel irony is in the U.S., wealthy individuals and rich corporations bankroll Christian nationalists, even when they don’t believe in religious extremism themselves. They reap the rewards of supporting Republicans through lower taxes and unregulated capitalism, or by promoting libertarian views. It is a small price to pay to deny millions their bodily autonomy.
“I’m basically a libertarian,” David Koch toldBarbara Walters during a 2014 interview. “And I’m a conservative on economic matters and I’m a social liberal.” He died that year but his and his brother Charles’s political legacy is that since the 1970s, they have donated $100 millionconservatives. The Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, which was established in 2014, is the main vehicle that the Koch brothers use for their pet causes. gaveCitizenLink received $885,000 from Focus on the Family, an extremist Christian group that opposes gay marriage and abortion. CitizenLink used a portion of the money to send direct mail support to Republicans like Tom Cotton. wantsto restrict immigration and asked for the military to be present on the streets during George Floyd protests.
Since 2010, the Koch brothers’ nonprofit network has poured$24 Million went to right-wing Christian groups, such as Concerned Women for America (which earned $11 million), and the Susan B. Anthony List which received $1.5 million. Both groups target abortion rights. Charles Koch met with conservative leaders in 1999 to discuss abortion rights. said the money was intended to “rally the troops” for his economic goals.
The Kochs are one family among a network of Republican megadonors which also includes the Mercer and Uihlein families, as well as Sheldon Adelson, who recently died. Alongside them are multinational corporations like Amazon and CVS, Charles Schwab and AT&T. They also fund politicians and groups that oppose reproductive rights. The largest anti-abortion groups are National Right to LifeThe Susan B. Anthony ListTo attack reproductive rights, coordinate or work together with dozens smaller groups, such as The Alabama Policy Institute and The Family Policy Alliance.
Some megadonors are motivated by religion, such as Texas fracking magnates. Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks,Over the past decade, far-right politicians have been given $11 million. Pennsylvania has the following: Martin family, owners of Martin’s Pastry Shop, are proud Christian nationalists who funded the campaign of far right Republican Doug Mastriano, to the tune of $100,000.
Megadonors are more often able to fund reactionary social forces in order secure other goals. Take Sheldon Adelson as an example. donatedFrom 2016, the Republican Party and super-PACS received $426 million. He claimed to be prochoice, for socialized healthcare and a path towards citizenship for undocumented immigrants, but he was a strong supporter of Israel. “Look I’m basically a social liberal,” Adelson toldThe Wall Street Journal. “I know no one would believe that.”
Megadonors aside, large corporations also give to both parties in order to lobby them later. As reported by Truthout’sSharon Zhang, Many companies that publicly support LGBTQ rights and reproductive rights subtly finance the most reactionary political parties. Zhang writes, “Amazon, AT&T, Citigroup, Coca-Cola, Comcast, CVS, General Motors, Google, T-Mobile, Walgreens, Walmart, Wells Fargo and Verizon have spent at least $15.2 million to support anti-abortion politicians.”
This double-dealing is simple. The 1% are more than willing to throw people’s rights under the bus in order to protect their profits. They fed Christian nationalism, which became an uncontrollable beast that threatened to destroy nearly every progressive legal victory of 21st century.
Faith No More
“I know what it’s like to see children growing up in poverty,” Miriah Mark said to CNN. “I know what it’s like to be a young Black girl not having a father, or the mom not being able to be home because they have to work.” At 15 weeks pregnant, Mark decided to have an abortion because her partner walked out. The skyrocketing cost for child care and housing was just too much.
When asked about the overturning Roe v. Wade, she said, “it makes you feel like you’re going back to a time where women didn’t have rights or women couldn’t vote.”
She is absolutely right. The Republican Party wants to turn back the clock. It is a party which wins on a rigged politcal playing field. The Senate structurallyRepublican tilts, since every state, regardless its population, has two senators. They often gerrymanderDistricts, virtually guaranteeing GOP wins. They also stacked up the Supreme Court. stealingTrump filled the vacancy created by President Obama. He also appointed Justices Amy Coney Barrett (Judge), and Brett Kavanaugh (Justice). The GOP can pay back its base by locking in minoritarian rules, with the religious right being the first in line.
Until recent times, the religious right was clearly losing its culture war and corresponding legal protections. The legal victories of feminism and gay liberation, contraception and abortion allowed people to explore their true selves. The legal victories Roe v. Wade and Lawrence v. TexasAnd Obergefell v. Hodges — which legalized, respectively, abortion, same-sex privacy and gay marriage — cemented the sexual revolution. Americans were leavingIn large numbers, establishment religion is still a problem.
The religious right continues to use courts and other legal means to force secular America to accept the decline in religious attendance. The Republican Party established a judicial pipeline through the Federalist Society. This conservative organization incubates lawyers, judges, and other professionals with a budget close to $20 million. Let’s take a wild guess as to where this money came from. On Democracy Now!Eric Lipton, journalist said, “Google and Microsoft are donors to the Federalist Society, and as well as major energy companies like Chevron or Devon [Energy] … you have also a lot of very conservative family foundations that — you know, like the Mercer foundation or the Koch brothers’ foundation, that see their giving, if you look at their donor patterns, as a way to try to influence American society.”
For a better understanding of the impact of all this strategic spending by wealthy and powerful, consider what Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez said about the Supreme Court’s overturning Roe v. Wade. Poor women of color are going to pay the price for rich people’s incredibly selfish funding of Christian nationalism. “People will die,” she tweeted.
