Dear Colleague,

When Melinda Gates announced that family planning in developing regions would be a major area of her philanthropy in 2012, she said she would not be funding abortion because she wanted "no controversy."  Pro-life organizations pointed out that most leading international family planning organizations also advocate for abortion.

This Definitions examines the Gates Foundation's stance on abortion in light of the strong ties between the international family planning movement and abortion, and examines the foundation's tax records from 2012-2019 to determine to what extent their family planning grantees promote abortion. The Gates Foundation wants to avoid controversy, but are they willing to avoid complicity in abortion?

Sincerely,

Rebecca Oas, Ph.D.
Director of Research

At the London Summit on Family Planning in 2012, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation made family planning one of its signature issues, using the slogan “No Controversy” to insist that contraception should not be politically divisive, and should be seen as separate from the highly controversial issue of abortion. Almost a decade later, looking at the partnerships supported by the Gates Foundation and their near-unanimous support for abortion, this Definitions examines the stark distinction between the desire to avoid the controversy associated with abortion and considers how the Gates Foundation might have operated if it were committed to avoiding complicity in abortion, as opposed to merely controversy. Read more >>>