Buffett Abolishes Entire Charity Program Rather than Cut Off Pro-Abortion Groups

OMAHA, July 8, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Rather than single out pro-abortion groups, Warren Buffett has ordered his subsidiary Berkshire Hathaway Inc. to abolish an entire charity program that enabled shareholders to choose which charities the company would contribute to—$197 million since 1981. Some pro-lifers boycotted subsidiaries like The Pampered Chef and Dairy Queen because some of the holding company’s donations were going to pro-abortion groups.  According to Berkshire Hathaway’s press release, “about 3,500 charities have been designated annually, with schools the favorite (about 800 different institutions have benefited), followed by more than 400 churches and synagogues.”  Life Decisions International (LDI), taking a measure of credit for the action, wrote that its “long-time boycott target … will no longer allow its shareholders to designate where the corporation’s donations will go—effectively cutting off Planned Parenthood.” However, LDI says Buffett went overboard. According to LDI’s Douglas Scott, “It is truly unfortunate that [Buffet] has chosen to end the entire program rather than stop funding pro-abortion groups with corporate dollars. … It’s as if Buffett was saying, ‘If we aren’t going to fund abortion we aren’t going to fund anything! So there!’”  For LDI’s press release:  https://www.fightpp.org/show.cfm?page=PC   For a CNN report:  https://money.cnn.com/2003/07/04/news/companies/buffett_charities.reut/index.htm   For Berkshire Hathaway’s press release:  https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/news/jul0303.pdf   Previous LifeSite report:  SHAREHOLDERS URGE BILLIONAIRE TO STOP BANKROLLING ABORTION AND POPULATION CONTROL https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/may/02050705.html