This week, the conservative organization 2nd Vote reported that Bank of America sponsored two Planned Parenthood galas — one in 2017 and one in 2018. Updated records also show the company gave Planned Parenthood affiliates over $50,000 in 2017, and more than $30,000 to the far-left smear factory the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) between 2013 and 2017.
Bank of America did not respond to multiple requests for comment from PJ Media, despite the explosive nature of the reporting. In addition to the 2nd Vote reports, Free Enterprise Project (FEP) Director Justin Danhof, Esq. reported how Bank of America executives stonewalled his attempts to get an answer at a board meeting on Wednesday.
Danhof confronted Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, noting Gallup polling showing Americans equally divided on abortion, and mentioning the racial elements at play. (According to one study, Planned Parenthood targets minority communities by placing 79 percent of its abortion clinics within walking distance of densely populated minority communities. While black Americans make up 13 percent of the U.S. population, 35 percent of babies killed in abortions are black.)
“Can you confirm that Bank of America contributes to Planned Parenthood through employee matching?” Danhof asked. “What do you have to say to the many millions of pro-life Americans who are deeply offended by your funding – many of whom are potential Bank of America customers, employees and investors? Finally, what do you have to say to the minority communities who have been insidiously targeted by Planned Parenthood?”
Bank of America representative admitted that about 170 of their 70,000 matching gifts went to Planned Parenthood, and repeated pablum about having a “diverse” matching grant program.
Yet Planned Parenthood listed Bank of America as a “Bronze Sponsor” of its 2018 gala, and as a “corporate sponsor” of its 2017 gala, as catalogued by 2nd Vote. This shows more than just an employee matching grant program.
At the 2017 Planned Parenthood gala, former First Lady Hillary Clinton received the Champion of the Century Award for her pro-abortion activism.
In the opening months of 2019, Democrats’ radical abortion activism inspired more Americans — even more Democrats — to identify as pro-life.
Yet Bank of America did not just give money to the U.S.’s largest abortion provider. The company has also directed more than $30,000 to the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that accuses conservative and Christian nonprofits of being “hate groups” similar to the Ku Klux Klan.
In 2013, Bank of America gave the SPLC $2,995.. Each year through 2016, the company gave the SPLC multiple thousands of dollars: $2,175 in 2014, $4,140 in 2015, and $2,750 in 2016. In 2017, the giving increased to $20,518.
In recent months, the SPLC fired its co-founder, saw its president resign, and lost one of its prominent board members in the wake of allegations of racism and sexual harassment. PJ Media reached out to a host of corporations whose charity arms gave money to the SPLC, and few of them responded to requests for comment. Bank of America was silent at that time, as well.
The SPLC also faces many defamation lawsuits, especially after former employees conceded that the smear factory’s “hate group” accusation is a fundraising scam.
Bank of America needs to explain its giving to Planned Parenthood and to the SPLC. Even if these organizations were not radical, their ugly histories with race should make them abhorrent to Bank of America. The company needs to explain itself, at least.
Follow Tyler O’Neil, the author of this article, on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
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