“Libertarian” Koch Groups Mirror GOP Presidential Pack In Anti-Choice Extremism

March 31, 2016

As Republican presidential candidates battle to see who can stake out the most extreme anti-choice position (Spoiler: Donald Trump is the front-runner here with his call to “punish the woman“), the anti-choice, anti-women fervor is unsurprisingly reflected across the Koch network.

The Koch’s alignment with Donald Trump on choice was succinctly articulated today by Cato Institute senior fellow Ilya Shapiro. Not to be outdone by Trump, he took to Twitter to make his views on reproductive rights clear. While disingenuously masquerading as “libertarian” organizations focused on economic issues, anti-choice extremism is rampant throughout the Kochs’ groups

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Concerned Women for America provides the most illuminating example of David and Charles opposition to choice. The Kochs have pumped millions of dollars  into this group which seeks to “protect and promote Biblical values” and to “restore the family to its traditional purpose.” Concerned Women for America has accused Planned Parenthood of “promot[ing] deviant behavior” and encouraging gender-selective abortion.

Then there’s Americans For Prosperity, whose policy director–Akash Chougule–has called for the defunding of Planned Parenthood, echoing the pernicious lies about the women’s reproductive health organization, even calling their supporters “lunatics.”

AFP senior policy fellow Peggy Venable engaged in her own anti-choice smear-campaign about medical procedures she’s untrained in. Venable must have gotten called out on it because she quickly retreated to the facade of economic libertarianism, and deleted her tweet. But not soon enough!!! 
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Before it was revealed that the slanderous videos were doctored up, AFP President Tim Phillips joined the anti-choice, anti-Planned Parenthood bandwagon.
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National LIBRE Initiative spokesperson Rachel Campos-Duffy spoke at the National Right to Life Convention–a  seemingly strange venue to talk about the free market and libertarian ideals. NRLC staff was sure to point out that Campos-Duffy, “has much to offer the rank and file of the right-to-life movement.”

The Koch network almost exclusively bankrolls anti-choice candidates, who campaign to overturn Roe v. Wade, and the two brothers have pledged to spend nearly $900 million in the 2016 cycle.

With their anti-choice, anti-women rhetoric, it’s getting harder to distinguish between the libertarian Koch-backed groups with the Republican Party.

Koch Networks Anti-Choice Extremism

Cato Institute Senior Fellow Ilya Shapiro Tweeted In Response To A Statement That Forced Pregnancies Are Punishment, That They Weren’t Because Of “Adoption.” According to a tweet by Cato Institute senior fellow Ilya Shapiro, “ADAM WINKLER: It’s not just Trump. Women are punished by bans on abortion by being forced into motherhood & child care against their will. ILYA SHAPIRO: But adoption.” [Ilya Shapiro– Twitter, 3/30/16]

ThinkProgress: “Of The 265 Federal Elected Officials Who Have Benefited From Koch Spending Since 2010, Just Nine Have Pro-Choice Voting Records.” According to ThinkProgress, “Of the 265 federal elected officials who have benefited from Koch spending since 2010, just nine have pro-choice voting records. At least 242 have endorsed controversial proposals to ban abortions after 20-weeks of pregnancy. Another 14 identify as generally opposed to abortion rights. The Kochs and their committees have spent more than $27 million in support of these anti-abortion legislators, while they spent just about $90,000 on pro-choice officials. This does not even include the more than $34 million spent unsuccessfully to elect abortion-opponent Mitt Romney.” [ThinkProgress, 2/10/15]

Joan Walsh: Despite Their Claims That They’re Pro-Abortion Rights, Marriage Equality, And Immigration Reform, “The Brothers Don’t Even Pretend To Be Searching For A Candidate Who’s Moderate On Any Of Those Things.”According to an opinion by Joan Walsh in Salon, “But it’s also a sign that for all their influence with the GOP field, the Kochs can’t force a change in the top candidates’ political platform.  Despite their claims that they’re still libertarian on abortion rights and marriage equality, and despite evidence they support comprehensive immigration reform, the brothers don’t even pretend to be searching for a candidate who’s moderate on any of those things.” [Joan Walsh – Salon,5/26/15]

ThinkProgress: In 2010 Americans United For Life, “Often Described As The Primary Legal Arm Of The Anti-Abortion Movement,” Received $559,000 From The Center To Protect Patient Rights. According to ThinkProgress, “AUL [Americans United for Life], founded in 1971 by conservative Catholic L. Brent Bozell, is often described as the primary legal arm of the anti-abortion movement. Its goal is to make abortion inaccessible through an approach many call ‘incrementalism’ — blanketing the country in laws and court cases that choke abortion access at the state level — which contrasts an all-or-nothing absolutist strategy pushing to ban abortion outright. […] The group has gotten a huge monetary boost from right-wing allies. In 2010, AUL’s legal arm, Americans United for Life Action, received $559,000 from the Center to Protect Patient Rights, a secretive non-profit group linked to the Koch Brothers that has injected nearly two hundred million dollars to in undisclosed donations to right-wing advocacy groups since 2009.” [ThinkProgress, 12/2/14]

Despite David Koch Claiming To Be A “Social Liberal,” The Kochs’ Freedom Partners Helped Funnel At Least $3 Million To Groups That Actively Attack Marriage Equality And Contraception. According to PRwatch.org, “In December 2014, as part of the Kochs’ new PR charm offensive, billionaire David Koch sat down with Barbara Walters and claimed to America ‘I’m a social liberal.’ Koch […] acknowledged that his beliefs about same-sex marriage and abortion conflict with the conservative beliefs held by many of the candidates propped up by the checks cut by him and his brother. ‘That’s their problem. I do have those views. What I want these candidates to do is to support a balanced budget. . . .’ […] Despite the notion that the Koch version of liberalism means keeping the government out of your bedroom while putting much of government out of business, the reality is that the Kochs’ Freedom Partners helped funnel at least $3 million as of May 2014 to groups that actively attack marriage equality and contraception–via ORRA/EVANGCHR4 and not just the $375,000 for Duggar’s Family Research Council Action.”  [PRwatch.org, 8/22/15]

Koch-Funded Groups That Attacked Marriage Equality And Contraception Include The “Susan B. Anthony List,” “Vision America Action” and “CitizenLink” Which Aids “Focus On The Family” Which Stridently Opposes Gay Marriage And Legal Abortion. According to PRwatch.org, “This [list of groups funded by Freedom Partners] includes at least $700,000 to the ‘Susan B. Anthony List,’ which is devoted to electing anti-choice candidates for political office. It includes at least $520,000 to an operation called ‘Vision America Action,’ which is led by Rick Scarborough, a former preacher who opposes gay marriage to such a degree that he is ready to be burned to death opposing gay rights, as noted by People for the American Way’s Right Wing Watch. It also includes more than $1.3 million to ‘CitizenLink,’ which aids ‘Focus on the Family’ in voter mobilization and candidate training in its strident opposition to gay marriage and legal abortion.” [PRwatch.org, 8/22/15]

Freedom Partners Provided More Than $8 Million To Concerned Women For America Which Was Aligned In “Many Ways With The Family Research Council. According to PRwatch.org, “Notably the EVANGCHR4 funding does not include the more than $8 million the Freedom Partners’ operations provided to Concerned Women for America, another anti-gay, anti-abortion group alligned in many ways with the Family Research Council. (The Koch-fueled Concerned Women for America is also actively advancing the Koch/American Legislative Exchange Council economic agenda against increasing the minimum wage and labor rights, in addition to focusing on ‘restoring the family to its original purpose.’) To most Americans, that would be an awful lot of money to spend helping socially conservative religious operations that are the opposite of ‘socially liberal’ just because they reference economic policies amidst a sea of tirades against marriage equality and women’s reproductive freedom of choice.” [PRwatch.org, 8/22/15]

The Largest Beneficiary Of Koch Backed Freedom Partners’ Donations Was CitizenLink, The Colorado Springs-Based Political Arm Of The Prominent Anti-Abortion And Religious Freedom Organization Focus On The Family, Which In 2014 Received $1 Million And An Addition $1.3 Million Through Koch Backed, Evangchr4 Trust. According to the Denver Post, “The largest beneficiary in Colorado — where the Koch brothers own homes — is CitizenLink, the Colorado Springs-based political arm of Focus on the Family and a prominent anti-abortion and religious freedom organization. In 2014, the group received $1 million and an additional $1.3 million through Evangchr4 Trust, another Koch organization. The two other local groups that benefited from Koch money: IACE Action, a political nonprofit run by Colorado Springs conservative activist Laura Carno, received $95,000, and the Colorado Women’s Alliance, a conservative-leaning organization based in Greenwood Village, took $50,000.” [Denver Post, 11/29/15]

GenOpp-VA Field Director: With Cheap And Free Access To Birth Control, “Abortions Are Artifacts Of The Past.” According to a tweet by Generation Opportunity-VA Tidewater field director Tyler Spires, “#ThxBirthControl is prime example why #Abortion is Archaic. W/ cheap/ free access to BC, Abortions are artifacts of the past. #NaturalRights[.]” [Tyler Spires, archived 11/11/15]

Paid for by American Bridge 21st Century Foundation