US conservative groups behind a Supreme Court legal battle that could shape the future of American abortion rights have spent at least $28m around the world between 2016 and 2019, openDemocracy reveals today. These groups have engaged in numerous international campaigns against women's and LGBT rights, including supporting anti-abortion causes in Poland, Colombia and El Salvador.
They have also received almost $100m from 2016 to 2020 from anonymous donors, funnelled through two leading US charities that manage massive amounts of money and are accused of funding “hate groups”.
On Wednesday, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case against a law passed in Mississippi in 2018 that bans abortions after 15 weeks. This law was deliberately designed to challenge – and eventually overturn – the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that legalised abortion nationwide, allowing terminations until week 23.
