News Release

  Abortion Debate Moves to State Ballots in 2006, Bringing Cash With It

Ballot Measures in Three States Attract $28 Million in Campaign Contributions
Edwin Bender or Rachel Weiss, 406-449-24802007-06-08
HELENA, Mont. -- Money spoke in the 2006 election cycle when abortion-rights advocates raised substantially more than their anti-abortion counterparts and defeated four ballot measures in three states that would have imposed restrictions on the practice or banned it in most cases, a new report finds.

Opponents of abortion measures in California, Oregon and South Dakota raised nearly $18 million, or 78 percent more than proponents of the measures, who raised $10 million, according to the study by the National Institute on Money in State Politics. California voters saw nearly the same initiative on their ballots in 2005 and 2006.

The report, "Pro-Life and Pro-Choice Take Battle to the Ballot," examines campaign contributions made to committees involved in supporting or opposing the abortion-related ballot measures during the 2005 and 2006 elections.

The Institute is a national nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that collects and analyzes campaign contributions to state-level candidates, party committees and ballot measure committees in all 50 states. Its searchable database, complete back to the 2000 election cycle, is freely available on the Web at

"Although money isn't the only factor determining the outcome of state elections, having more cash to spend than an opponent certainly doesn't hurt," says Edwin Bender, executive director of the Institute. "A steady flow of campaign money can help organizations either place their measures on the ballot, or defeat those with which they disagree."

Although the South Dakota referendum on the state's abortion ban might have generated more news coverage, the 2006 vote on abortion restrictions in California attracted the most cash: $10.3 million compared to the $6.6 million raised in South Dakota.

The measure fund-raising battles were hardly grassroots affairs, with the top 10 contributors on each side contributing nearly two-thirds of the funding for their respective side.

Opponents of additional abortion restrictions raised more than measure advocates in all three states; in each state, the measures failed. Planned Parenthood and its affiliates dominated all contributors, giving more than $8.8 million to fight the measures in all three states. The next top contributor was an individual, James E. Holman, who gave nearly $3.5 million to promote the measures in California in 2005 and 2006. Only one major anti-abortion contributor — Focus on the Family — gave in more than one state compared to at least eight abortion-rights contributors. Focus on the Family gave slightly more than $63,000 total in California and South Dakota.

See the full report: Pro-Life and Pro-Choice Take Battle to the Ballot