Microsoft isn’t the only company that seems to contradict its own politics by promising to cover abortion travel costs for employees, while at the same time donating to political action committees that funded the same governors and attorneys general who fought to Roe to Wade. However, Microsoft is one of the biggest donors that has helped install so many anti-abortion officials over time. The Center for Political Accountability (CPA) told Bloomberg that since 2010, Microsoft has donated $3 million to Republican groups who are stubbornly working to end abortion in America.
Microsoft can donate to these groups for a variety of reasons, but a British activist shareholder group called Tulipshare says the company needs to change its political donation policy to resist political contradictions and increase transparency. To put pressure on Microsoft, Tulipshare entered into a partnership with CPA. Together, they propose that Microsoft release an annual report that publicly connects the dots between the money Microsoft donates, the elected officials who support those donations, and the specific causes those elected officials support. Such a report could put an end to all claims made by companies about incidental anti-abortion donations.
According to Jenna Armitage, Tulipshare’s Chief Marketing Officer, the action group’s strategy is to “talk to Microsoft’s Investor Relations department” to request the annual report. Ideally, that report would “obligate the company to ask political action committees it funds to say which candidates and causes they support.” If Microsoft rejects the proposal, Tulipshare’s next step is to urge investors to “file a shareholder motion.”
“We’re asking Microsoft to demand more transparency from the political groups they donate to so that no one can play dumb about what is funding that money,” Armitage told Ars. “In this scenario,” Republican groups “should report their spending to Microsoft, and Microsoft should report that spending to its shareholders.”
If Tulipshare actually succeeds with its proposal, Microsoft would for the first time have to take a long and full public look at where its political donations are going and how that aligns with the political politics of the organization. Tulipshare’s goal is to urge Microsoft to stop all anti-abortion donations and lobbying activities, holding the company accountable for its core values seemingly reflected by concerns about Microsoft employees maintaining safe access to reproductive health care.
Armitage says it’s wrong to mislead employees about the full scope of a company’s politics. “You see a lot of companies jumping on this awakened marketing opportunity to speak out against something, whether it’s to attract more recruits, to put themselves in the media a little bit, when their political activities are actually saying otherwise,” Armitage said. .
According to OpenSecrets, so far in 2022, Microsoft is ranked No. 2 ($293,500) — tied with Google ($283,500) and only behind PricewaterhouseCoopers ($500,500) — on a list of 15 companies “that promised to cover abortion-related travel expenses” while their corporate PACs donated to politicians who recently voted against the Women’s Health Protection Act. That law would have codified abortion, but failed to pass a Senate vote when no Republican voted for it. Microsoft donated $233,000 to 119 of the anti-abortion politicians who voted no, bringing the maximum donation ($5,000) to nine.
It is up to Microsoft’s leadership to decide whether such a report would benefit the company’s reputation at this point. But OpenSecrets suggests it’s clear that Microsoft’s donations support anti-abortion causes, as groups that receive donations make it clear how the money will be used. One of the groups that received Microsoft donations, the Republican Attorneys General Association, immediately sent an email to supporters on June 24, asking for donations afterward. Roe v. Wade was quashed, promising that “every donation will help the Republican Attorney General fight and hold out for life the Democrats’ pro-abortion agenda.”
A Microsoft spokeswoman declined to comment on both Bloomberg and Ars.
Microsoft historically donates to both Democrats and Republicans through its corporate PACs, and OpenSecrets notes that of all 15 companies, Microsoft was the only company that “showed a trend of contributing more to Democratic groups over time.” This could indicate that the company is working to be more aware of how political giving contradicts its politics, not just on abortion, but also on other democratic issues Microsoft supports, such as climate change or LGBTQ+ protection. .
