Anti-abortion activists hold placards outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on June 24, 2022. (Photo: STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
A recent report revealed that US-based “anti-rights” and “anti-gender” groups increased their total annual spending to churches in Africa to $16,482,776 from 2019 to 2022. .
The report, published by the Institute for Journalism and Social Change, analyzed the U.S. 990 form nonprofits must file with the Internal Revenue Service to receive tax exemption. Per the requirements, organizations must submit documentation if they have at least $10,000 in total expenditures or revenue outside the United States.
A report finds that 17 American Christian rights organizations known for opposing reproductive rights spent more than $16.5 million in Africa over the four-year period from 2019 to 2022. did.
Nearly a third of that total, $5.2 million, was spent in 2022 alone, the year after President Joe Biden took office.
However, the financial report does not reveal in which African countries the funds were spent.
South Africa, Ghana, Uganda, Zambia and Tanzania were beneficiaries of investments worth $66,775 in 2022, according to anti-abortion group Heartbeat International's financial records.
“This appears to be only a fraction of the total financial investment that U.S. conservatives opposed to reproductive rights have made on the continent,” the report said.
The report blames increased spending in Africa on fierce dissent from the Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which ruled that the constitution generally protects the right to abortion.
Based on financial reports, the group includes several organizations involved in the controversial Project 2025 initiative, a 900-page list of policy wishes for the incoming administration of Donald Trump. .
Three of the 17 groups included in this analysis are members of the Project 2025 Advisory Board. These include the Alliance Defending Freedom, which focuses on legal battles over reproductive rights;
The Heritage Foundation, the publisher of Project 2025, is also on the list of African spenders, but the amount they disclosed decreased from $5,918 in 2020 to zero in 2022.
In 2018, the Heritage Foundation said, “After one year in office, President Donald Trump and his administration have accepted nearly two-thirds of policy recommendations from the United States.” [the foundation’s] Leadership mission. ”
Another group associated with Project 2025 is the Fellowship Foundation, which is “focused on proselytizing and organizing politicians.” It accounted for 45% of spending from 2019 to 2022, or approximately $8,919,197.
In October 2023, U.S. State Representative Tim Walberg attended a prayer breakfast in Uganda and served as the keynote speaker, urging the country to uphold anti-gay laws. The Fellowship Foundation funded this trip.
Following this return, the global equality movement All Out raised concerns about the foundation's financial support for trips to Africa that support and encourage discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people, some of whom are Christians.
The report further alleges that there are U.S. entities operating in Africa that have not filed 990 forms. This is the case with the Institute for Women's Health, founded by Project 2025 advisory board member Valerie Huber.
Hoover served in several leadership roles in the Trump administration and played a key role in crafting the Geneva Consensus Declaration, which aimed to ensure “significant health and development benefits for women.”
However, the report notes that although the Women's Health Institute is “registered as a U.S. 501c3 nonprofit organization, it does not disclose international spending in its annual report and is therefore not included in this report's analysis and data tables.” “I haven't.” As of early October 2024, there were only two companies. ”
“The dramatic increase in spending in Africa by these U.S. entities points to the need for more regular and ongoing monitoring to keep numbers and anti-rights watchdogs up to date,” the report said. “There is,” he warns.
