Missouri abortion-rights campaign doubles its fundraising total since qualifying for ballot

Missouri’s campaign to legalize abortion has more than doubled its fundraising totals since it was approved for the ballot in mid-August, despite — and perhaps fueled by — a lawsuit that threatened to knock it off the Nov. 5 ballot. 

Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, the coalition behind what will appear on the ballot as Amendment 3, has raised more than $16 million since launching in January, according to reports filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Of that, $9 million in donations greater than $5,000 were reported to the commission since the measure was certified for the ballot on Aug. 13. Campaigns are required to report any donations over $5,000 within 48 hours of receiving them. Reports totaling all donations and expenditures are due to the state each quarter. 

The two most well-established political action committees working to fight the amendment include Missouri Stands with Women, which has raised at least $200,000, and Missouri Right to Life, which has raised nearly $675,000 this election cycle.

The largest donations to Missourians for Constitutional Freedom have come from four out-of-state progressive nonprofits that are not required to disclose their donors and are also helping fund reproductive-rights campaigns in several states. 

As of Thursday, the Sixteen Thirty Fund based out of Washington D.C. donated $4.5 million to Missouri’s effort. That includes a $3.5 million check on Aug. 30 — the second largest single donation in Missouri this year. 

The Fairness Project, also based out of Washington D.C., has donated $2.9 million. Most of that money came on Aug. 23, when the organization cut a $2.1 million check to the campaign. 

Both nonprofits also contributed significant funds to the state’s 2020 Medicaid expansion initiative petition effort, which ultimately succeeded, and to the current ballot effort to raise the minimum wage and mandate paid sick leave.

The campaign also received $1 million from a nonprofit out of Washington D.C. listed as Open Source Action Fund, which is linked to an address for Open Society Action Fund. The nonprofit was founded by George Soros, a liberal billionaire.

On Thursday, a Virginia-based nonprofit called Global Impact Social Welfare donated $750,000.

Successful statewide ballot initiative campaigns are often multi-million dollar endeavors. 

“It is expensive, and in these places where we can do it, it is the least expensive pathway to restoring rights,” Kelly Hall, executive director of The Fairness Project, said at a panel discussion during the Democratic National Convention. “In Missouri, for example, it would take a lot more money to flip that legislature and to flip that gubernatorial seat … the best (return on investment) we can get is putting this on the ballot and appealing to those Missouri voters who do want this.”

In an interview with The Independent, Hall said The Fairness Project is both a leading funder and a coalition partner of Missourians for Constitutional Freedom. The coalition also includes the state’s Planned Parenthood affiliates, the ACLU of Missouri and Abortion Action Missouri. 

She said any assumption that they simply parachute money into states is false. 

“It is impossible for nonprofits like us who may have resources to bring to bear to achieve anything without a campaign that is grounded in grassroots support and the support of Missouri voters,” Hall said. 

The fact that the nonprofits helping bankroll the campaign don’t disclose their donors has become a point of attack from anti-abortion activists and lawmakers in Missouri. 

“There is going to be a massive effort — and by massive I mean to the tune of millions of dollars,” U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley said of the abortion ballot campaign at a conference last weekend in Missouri.

“Already, George Soros and dark money groups have poured into this state almost $5 million to begin spending on this radical amendment.” 

Stephanie Bell, a spokeswoman for Missouri Stands with Women, blamed “out-of-state liberal groups” for boosting the abortion-rights campaign’s finances.

On Tuesday, after the Missouri Supreme Court reversed a lower court’s attempt to take Amendment 3 from the ballot, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, the front-runner for governor, called the ballot measure “a deceptive effort by out-of-state interests.” The Missouri Republican Party called Amendment 3 “bankrolled by radical out-of-state interest groups.” 

Hall, with The Fairness Project, said she doesn’t usually push back on “dark money” criticisms. 

“If they want to focus on this rather than on the issue that Missouri voters care about, which is making sure that everyone in their state has access to lifesaving reproductive health care when they need it,” she said, “then that’s a misread on their part of what Missouri voters care most about.” 

The campaign has seen overwhelming support from across the state, collecting initiative petition signatures from every county and turning in more than 380,000 signatures to the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office in May.

While the top donors have come from out of state, the campaign has also raised several million dollars so far from Missouri individuals and organizations.

Planned Parenthood Great Plains and Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, which have clinics in Missouri, have donated more than $1.1 million. The ACLU of Missouri has donated more than $620,000, the Health Forward Foundation based in Kansas City donated $500,000 and Abortion Action Missouri has given more than $230,000.

The campaign stresses that the largest donor base remains Missourians affected by the ban. 

“Throughout the campaign, eight out of 10 online contributions have come from right here in Missouri,” Rachel Sweet, campaign manager for Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, said in a statement. “Underscoring the true grassroots nature of this movement.”

Sweet said that in the days following a Friday ruling by a Cole County circuit judge that threatened to remove Amendment 3 from the ballot, more than 2,400 Missourians donated a quarter million dollars to the campaign. 

If Amendment 3 passes by a simple majority in November, Missouri could become the first state to overturn an abortion ban by the vote of the people. It would also join several other states that successfully protected abortion-rights through citizen-led ballot campaigns since Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022. 

Abortion is illegal in Missouri, with limited exceptions for medical emergencies. The amendment would legalize abortion up until the point of fetal viability and protect access to other reproductive health care, like birth control. 

“It is truly the grassroots infrastructure in Missouri,” Kelly said. “And the leadership of in-state partners in every ballot measure campaign that advances to voters that we’ve been involved in that make it such an inspiring place to work.”

This story was originally published by the Missouri Independent