FILE – In this March 4, 2018, file photo, MacKenzie Scott arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, Calif. The billionaire philanthropist revealed that she has donated nearly $4 billion to 465 nonprofits in a new blog post Wednesday, March 23, 2022 confirming the gifts that the groups have been announcing on their own for months. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
When MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, donated $275 million to Planned Parenthood earlier this year, it broke records. The gift was the largest in the organization’s history from a single donor, a sum meant to bolster Planned Parenthood’s operations just as the anti-abortion movement closed in on its decades-long quest to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The U.S. Supreme Court now appears on the verge striking down the landmark decision, allowing states to ban abortion outright for the first time in nearly five decades. Though the nation’s wealthiest philanthropists have been giving to reproductive rights groups for decades, the cause comprises a relatively small portion of overall philanthropic giving. According to the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, $1.7 billion went to reproductive rights nonprofits from 2015 to 2019. That’s 2.2% of the $76 billion from foundations during that time period.
Even less money, $361 million, was earmarked specifically for abortion rights and services, as opposed to other…
