An executive order halting federal money of Planned Parenthood and another abortion-related organizations is expected to be signed by President Donald Trump. Despite recent losses at the vote field, this is a major success for the pro-life activity. For instance, Trump won Arizona’s electoral college votes next year when a ballot measure to enshrine abortion was passed, but pro-life activists suffered a crushing battle. What causes the mismatch? The” Citizens ‘ Right to Know Act,” a complicated donation disclosure regime that suppressed support for the state’s pro-life law, was one overlooked aspect.
Prop 211 passed the misleadingly named Citizens ‘ Right to Know Act in 2022, claiming that it would increase transparency for so-called “dark income.” Conventional nonprofits that support traditional policy goals were the law’s actual targets, though. In a system known as “original cause reporting,” these campaigning organizations are required to share both their own donors and the donors to other nonprofits that are contributors under Prop 211. The plan has since been passed into law in many different states, including at least six in the 2025 congressional session, all with the aim of demonizing traditional parties.
Pro-life organizations in Arizona found themselves without the necessary tools to counteract the Right to Abortion Initiative’s relentless pro-life money campaign. According to the Associated Press, the government’s pro-life side was outspent by about 35 to 1, one of the most spectacular discrepancies in state-wide ballot initiatives involving abortion.
This money mismatch was intentionally created. The pro-life trigger has been overwhelmingly harmed by the result of Prop 211’s roman reporting system, which has confounded lawmakers, regulators, philanthropic leaders, and donors. Many conservatives opted to forgo giving to organizations that support the pro-life ballot measure out of concern that their names and home names may be exposed, leading to intimidation, threats, and another sanctions.
Unfortunately, these worries are not baseless. Christian churches and pregnancy resource facilities have been the target of theft and burning by extreme liberal protesters across the country since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The public’s murder toward pro-life advocates unavoidably has a cold impact on the entire network of pro-life organizations, including those who support Arizona’s centuries-old pro-life law.
All of this ought to not shock you. Republicans in Arizona have spent the past three years warning about Prop 211’s terrifying effects, yet challenging the regulation in both state and federal authorities for putting their donors in risk.  ,
Siling contributors
The law was challenged by Center for Arizona Policy, a state-based think tank that strategies for conventional policy reforms. It claimed that the laws subjected its donors to focused harassment promotions. Cathi Herrod, the agency’s former executive chairman, has drawn the opposition’s attention. She described herself as” a harassing, frequently offensive, public face of CAP,” continuing unabated on social media and through phone calls to our office, with recent comments that I am” no better than the Taliban” and “zealous tyrant.”
Prop 211, according to Scott Mussi, chairman of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club,” Donors have informed me that they would reduce, change, or eliminate their efforts to FEC if their names, addresses, and companies are officially disclosed.”
Similar Proposals in Numerous States
However, progressives are already attempting to transfer the nonprofit disclosure law from Arizona to other states. A state lawmaker in Maine introduced a bill that is almost verbatim a copy of Prop 211, with the support of the same activist groups that contributed to the draft of Prop 211 and are now defending the law in court. Following unsuccessful attempts to pass the law in Oklahoma and Oregon in 2024, similar bills have now been introduced in Idaho and Minnesota.  ,
Although funding Planned Parenthood is a significant step forward in protecting unborn children, a large portion of the battle will still be in the states. Prop 211 in Arizona should serve as a warning to conservatives: extorting nonprofit donors will only weaken the right’s capacity to mobilize in support of conservative causes. Many conservatives are prevented from attempting to protect life, among other priorities, by legitimate concerns about exposure to radical leftist activists. The pro-life movement needs privacy to ensure that conservatives are free to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves, as opposed to laws that discriminate Americans based on their beliefs.
People United for Privacy Foundation’s senior director of external affairs is Brian Hawkins.
