Amazon, Walmart billionaires finance anti-women politicians

This 27 July 2018 American Civil Liberties Union video from the USA says about itself:

We Tested Amazon’s Facial Recognition Software

Amazon’s face surveillance technology is the target of growing opposition nationwide, and today, there are 28 more causes for concern. In a test the ACLU recently conducted of the facial recognition tool, called “Rekognition”, the software incorrectly matched 28 members of Congress, identifying them as other people who have been arrested for a crime.

The members of Congress who were falsely matched with the mugshot database we used in the test include Republicans and Democrats, men and women, and legislators of all ages, from all across the country.

The false matches were disproportionately of people of color, including six members of the Congressional Black Caucus, among them civil rights legend Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.). These results demonstrate why Congress should join the ACLU in calling for a moratorium on law enforcement use of face surveillance.

From UltraViolet in the USA, 27 November 2019:

Amazon gave at least $15,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee, which supports politicians who passed state abortion bans.1 Target gave at least $13,500 to the same committee.2 Walmart gave a whopping $124,800 to that committee and directly to Missouri, Alabama, and Georgia politicians who pushed for each state’s abortion ban.3

These corporations pride themselves on their “pro-women” policies, but they support politicians who use women’s lives and health as political football. But we can help stop that. More and more companies care about the social and political issues that their consumers advocate for. If enough of us speak out and demand they stop giving to anti-women, anti-abortion politicians , we can make the case that their consumers–and their bottom lines–want them to support reproductive rights and justice.

This Black Friday, will you be one of the hundreds of thousands of petition signers needed for Amazon, Target, and Walmart to stop funding anti-abortion, anti-woman lawmakers?

Tell Amazon, Walmart, Target, and others: Quit lying about your commitment to gender equality. Stop funneling money to anti-abortion, anti-woman lawmakers.

Sign the petition

Amazon likes to brag about its so-called women empowerment programs, like “Amazon Women in Engineering.”4 Target’s CEO accepted an award for gender inclusivity.5 Walmart likes to talk about its “Global Women’s Economic Initiative” to combat gender inequality.6 All of them gave tens of thousand of dollars to lawmakers who push for state abortion bans.

So far this year, nine states have outlawed abortion or banned it after six weeks of pregnancy, before most women even realize they’re pregnant.7 The politicians who’ve passed these laws know that they endanger women’s lives and are unconstitutional. These laws are exercises in cruelty and political gamesmanship–and that is the point. They are hoping these abortion bans make it all the way up to the Supreme Court, where there is a conservative majority–including sexual predator Brett Kavanaugh–willing to gut Roe v. Wade and end access to safe abortion care for millions.

These are the same politicians that big corporations like Amazon, Walmart, and Target are giving funding to so that these politicians behave in ways favorable to corporations’ bottom lines.

But those bottom lines depend on consumers, and 56% of consumers say that they would be more likely to buy from a company that publicly supports reproductive rights.8 This Black Friday, let’s start chipping away at the right wing’s well-orchestrated plan to gut abortion rights and build opposition to corporate funding of the anti-abortion lobby.

Will you sign the petition to demand an end to corporate funding of the anti-abortion movement?

Thanks for speaking out!

— Shaunna, Kat, Kathy, Anathea, Melody, Lindsay, Pam, Sonja, Kimberly, Maria, JoEllen, and Sy, the UltraViolet team

Sources:

1. Funding the Bans: A Look at the Major Corporations Financing the Lawmakers Behind State Abortion Bans, Equity Forward, August 2019

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. Empowering Women in Tech on International Women’s Day, Amazon Web Services, March 8, 2018

5. Target honored with NEW William J. Grize Award for gender diversity and inclusion, Markets Insider, January 22, 2019

6. Walmart Launches Global Women’s Economic Empowerment Initiative, Walmart, September 14, 2011

7. Early Abortion Bans: Which States Have Passed Them?, NPR, June 5, 2019

8. New Research From NARAL And The Harris Poll Suggests Companies Should Stand Up For Women’s Reproductive Freedom, NARAL Pro-Choice America, April 23, 2019