Wonder
Mackenzie Scott Becomes The First To Make A Single Largest Donation In The History Of Planned Parenthood
Attacks against reproductive healthcare can’t be solved by just one large gift, but it will surely help.
In 2019, Mackenzie Scott pledged via a Medium Post to give away most of her wealth over her lifetime and donated about $6 billion to hundreds of nonprofits in 2020. As she has aimed to support underrepresented people from groups of all kinds, Scott, who received a 4% stake in Amazon in her divorce with founder Jeff Bezos, insisted the cause of equity has no sides.
Equally, she donated $436 million to Habitat for Humanity and has given way roughly $3.9 billion to 465 nonprofits. Scott is at it again, and this time around, she has donated $275 million to Planned Parenthood and 21 of its affiliates, making it the largest donation from a single donor.
Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated $275 million to Planned Parenthood, the largest gift from a single donor in the organization’s more than 100-year history.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 24, 2022
In a public announcement, Planned Parenthood explained that the donation comes at a crucial time for the organization, especially as sexual and reproductive health rights are under attack across the country as conservative lawmakers are rushing to pass anti-abortion legislation in anticipation of the Supreme Court rolling back Roe V. Wade.
The Supreme Court’s ruling on Dobbs V. Jackson Women’s Health Organization remains a Mississippi case hinged on how early a pregnancy states can ban abortion. If the court rules in favor of Mississippi, more anti-abortion states could adopt early-term abortion bans or laws prohibiting the procedure altogether.
Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains [PPRM] is one of the 21 affiliates that received a donation from Scott for $20 million.
The CEO of PPRM, Adrienne Mansanares, who oversees Colorado, Sothern Nevada, Wyoming, and New Mexico health centers, told BuzzFeed that the money would be instantly used to give employees a raise and for long-term investments like upgrading their physical location, advancing health equity goals and telehealth services.
She said the clinics in all four states had seen an uptick in patients traveling hundreds of miles to get the care and that about one in three abortion care patients in the New Mexico center comes from Texas. Adrienne attested Scott’s donation was an incredible gift, but the complications, challenges, and attacks against reproductive healthcare couldn’t be solved by just one large gift.
The President and CEO of Planned Parenthood, Alexis McGill Johnson, has also reacted to Scott’s donation.
In a statement, Alexis claimed the donation would help the organization’s efforts to eliminate racial and structural barriers because black women experience higher rates of maternal mortality and STIs.
She added: “By starting with the Black health experience in partnership with local communities, we see this an opportunity to not only improve health outcomes for Black patients but to transform how all patients, especially those in color and those in rural and low-income communities, experience our health care, education and organizing efforts.”
