Pro-life group receives nearly $300,000 in donations made in Mike Pence's name
The pro-life lobbying organization Susan B. Anthony (SBA) List has received nearly $300,000 in donations made in Vice President Mike Pence's name after it launched a fundraising campaign in response to actress Mila Kunis' donations to Planned Parenthood.
In early November, Kunis disclosed that she had set up monthly donations in Pence's name to Planned Parenthood, which sends a thank you card to donors each month.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, the head of SBA List, fired back by calling on the pro-life community to make contributions to her organization also in the vice president's name.
Pence responded to Dannenfelser's plea by saying he was "honored" by the gesture. "I'm honored. Thanks for all @SBAList does for life. I'm in," the vice president tweeted.
In a statement on Tuesday, Dannenfelser revealed that her organization has received nearly $300,000 since the fundraising campaign was launched.
"SBA List is closing in on $300,000 of direct pledges just in immediate response. Already, hundreds of grassroots supporters nationwide have responded generously to his call to give, and this is only the first stage," she said, as reported by The Christian Post.
Dannenfelser hailed the vice president's tweet as a "gut check" that "shows the strength of the pro-life movement and its leaders."
"Vice President Pence went on offense to advance the pro-life position by elevating a pro-life organization. And he did so in an area that, compared to the other side, has always been wanting: resources," she stated, noting that her organization had received donations and messages of support from across the country as a result of Pence's tweet.
"Pence set a great example that is being echoed by other pro-life leaders – that this movement's allies don't just sit back and take it as some politicians have done in the past. They go on offense," she added.
During the presidential campaign, the SBA List has been instrumental in getting then-nominee Donald Trump to sign a letter making four pro-life policy commitments.
According to SBA List, the organization, along with its partner super PAC, Women Speak Out, had spent over $18 million and knocked over 1.1 million doors in battleground states during the campaign period to prevent pro-choice Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton from winning the presidency.
In contrast, Planned Parenthood had reportedly spent about $30 million to elect Clinton and other pro-abortion politicians to Congress but lost many of the races. Abortion activists and number of pro-abortion celebrities started donating to Planned Parenthood in Pence's name, following Clinton's loss. The organization had disclosed in December last year that about 72,000 in donations were specifically made in the name of the pro-life vice president.
After Trump won the election, Dannenfelser, who served as the national chairwoman of the Trump campaign's pro-life coalition, stated at a press conference that the victory puts the country in a prime position to "make the biggest legislative advances for the protection of unborn children since Roe v. Wade."