From Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to Sen. Tommy Tuberville, meet the Republican lawmakers heavily invested in companies that will pay for employees to get out-of-state abortions
Getty Images
- Republican lawmakers who oppose abortion are investing in companies that support it.
- Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has 6-figure stock holdings in abortion-supporting companies.
- Some anti-abortion-rights groups want these lawmakers to divest.
Dozens of Republican lawmakers thrilled about the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade together have millions of dollars personally invested in companies committed to sponsoring abortion-related travel for their employees, an Insider investigation has found.
And at least two national anti-abortion groups told Insider that like-minded lawmakers should consider dumping their stock in companies that will facilitate their employees' abortions.
Among the most vocal anti-abortion lawmakers to invest in abortion supporting companies is Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia whose financial exposure in the pro-abortion businesses is substantial.
Together, Greene, her husband, Perry Greene, and their children may have more than half-a-million dollars invested in businesses that fund abortion travel, according to an annual financial disclosure document Greene filed in May with the US House of Representatives.
The Greenes' investments include up to $110,000 in Tesla, up to $65,000 in Starbucks, up to $50,000 in Microsoft, up to $65,000 in Facebook, up to $50,000 in Netflix, up to $67,000 in Disney, up to $95,000 in Back of America, and up to $50,000 in JP Morgan Chase.
Since joining Congress in 2021, Greene has had no qualms about investing in companies that openly conflict with her stances on various social, political or medical matters, such as when she bought stock in three major COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers while boasting of her unvaccinated status.
Perry Greene last month bought up to $295,000 worth of stock in companies that institutionally support the Black Lives Matter movement and LGBTQ+ rights, which the Georgia Republican has vehemently opposed.
Greene, who credited Donald Trump with seeding the high court with anti-abortion judges, did not respond to repeated requests for comment about any possible divestiture plans. She previously told Insider that she has an "independent investment advisor that has full discretionary authority on my accounts. I do not direct any trades."
Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Women's March Inc
Capitol Hill packed with abortion-sponsor investors
Congress' latest financial hypocrisy flows from the conservative majority of the Supreme Court's decision to overrule Roe v. Wade on June 24, a momentous reversal that's sparked pushback from concerned Democrats and like-minded corporations.
With right-leaning states already racing to criminalize abortion, abortion providers, and anyone who tries to get an abortion in localities where it remains legal, a slew of well-known businesses have pledged to help workers pay for out-of-state care.
Among them: Microsoft, Google, and Facebook, entertainment hubs Walt Disney, Netflix, and Amazon, financial institutions Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and JP Morgan Chase, as well as household names like Tesla and Starbucks. Insider cross-referenced these and other abortion-travel-funding companies with the stock holdings members of Congress listed in their annual financial disclosures and periodic stock-trade disclosures.
Repeat STOCK Act violator and anti-abortion advocate Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas may be nearly $1 million deep in the pro-abortion camp based on his 2021 annual financial report. That filing shows that he and his wife have invested up to $100,000 in Starbucks, up to $345,000 in Microsoft, up to $250,000 in Facebook, and up to $265,000 in Amazon. (Lawmakers are only required to report the value of their assets in broad ranges.)
Sessions did not respond to repeated requests for comment about his finances.
Rep. Diana Harshbarger of Tennessee, who previously told Insider she's outsourced her portfolio to a financial planner, has been given until August to file her 2021 annual report after requesting an extension. If her 2020 filings hold true, Harshbarger could have nearly $700,000 attached to abortion-friendly businesses, including up to $215,000 in Microsoft, up to $115,000 in Facebook, up to $145,000 in Google, up to $115,000 in Amazon, and up to $65,000 in Bank of America.
Harshbarger did not respond to repeated requests for comment about her finances.
Rep. Carol Miller of West Virginia, who hailed the gutting of Roe as "a huge victory for all Americans," also has until August to submit her 2021 annual report. In her 2020 filings Miller disclosed that her husband owned up to $250,000 in Microsoft stock.
Miller spokesman Tatum Wallace declined to comment on any divestiture plans, but did offer Insider a glimpse into how a GOP majority might take corporate America to task about this if they regain control of Congress this fall.
"Paying for someone to end a pregnancy sounds like a very taxable event to me," Wallace wrote in an email. "Congresswoman Miller is confident that next year, Republicans will look at ways to update the tax code to incentivize life and address this comprehensively."
Dozens of congressional Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose day-trading husband Paul Pelosi routinely moves millions of dollars through the markets, also invest in companies that will sponsor abortion travel.
But these Democrats almost universally support abortion rights, while their Republican counterparts have all but always fought to restrict or undo abortion rights.
Across the Capitol, several Republican senators who publicly oppose abortion rights appear to have similar conflicts in their financial portfolios.
Among them is Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, who describes himself as a "champion for the God-given rights of the unborn," yet personally invests in several such companies.
From May 19 to May 20, Tuberville purchased between $300,000 and $600,000 worth of stock in PayPal, according to federal disclosures.
On May 19 PayPal announced — in anticipation of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade — that it would fund employees' out-of-state travel to access abortions.
Tuberville's office declined to say whether the senator will divest of stock in companies that bankroll employee travel for abortions. In a statement, his office said: "Senator Tuberville has long had financial advisors who actively manage his portfolio without his day-to-day involvement."
US Senate
"Life is precious and deserves our respect and protection," Moran has said of his opposition to abortion. "I have used my voice and vote to further the cause of life and defend unborn children."
Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, who touts his "long record of upholding the sanctity of life," reported owning $50,000 to $100,000 worth of stock in Amazon.com, which said it would pay up to $4,000 in travel expenses each year for employees to obtain medical treatments, including abortions.
Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas, a self-described "consistent and staunch advocate for the cause of protecting babies in the womb," reported modest stock investments in Johnson & Johnson, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Walt Disney Company.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, who said she is "grateful for this pro-life decision" by the Supreme Court, holds between $15,000 and $50,000 in Walt Disney Co. stock and $1,000 to $15,000 worth of Microsoft stock, according to her most recent personal financial disclosure.
Representatives for Moran, Wicker, Boozman, and Lummis did not respond to requests for comment.
Andrew Harnik/AP
'Eschew companies that promote abortion'
Members of Congress who oppose abortion should get rid of any stocks they own in companies that fund abortion travel and make "a public announcing of divestiture," said Eric Scheidler, executive director of the Pro-Life Action League, a nonprofit organization dedicated to "saving unborn children through non-violent direct action."
Lawmakers should "choose investments that fit with their values — we all have to be more intentional about this," Scheidler said.
He recommended elected officials consider financial vehicles, such as mutual fund company Ave Maria Mutual Funds, that avoid investing in corporations that support abortion.
"We certainly think pro-life people would want to eschew companies that promote abortion," National Right to Life Committee Executive Director David O'Steen told Insider. "Perhaps they can now look at companies that don't make it a priority to support abortion."
O'Steen added that anyone opposed to abortion, lawmakers or otherwise, should avoid doing business with or otherwise patronizing abortion-supporting companies.
"Avoid Disneyland," he said.
Federal lawmakers are actively considering whether to ban themselves from trading individual stocks in part because of numerous examples of members of Congress personally investing in companies that conflict with their public duties or political positions.
Insider has recently revealed defense-related investors poised to personally profit from a recent Ukrainian aid package, environmental advocates who invest in fossil fuel-based operations, and pandemic relief supporters invested in the healthcare companies hustling to make COVID-19 manageable.
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/epWSFHm
No comments