Melinda French Gates' Billion Sparks Debate: Is Philanthropy Enough to Secure Women'S Rights?

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"For too long, a lack of money has forced organizations fighting for women's rights into a defensive posture while the enemies of progress play offense," writes Melinda French Gates in a New York Times op-ed.

"When we allow this cause to go so chronically underfunded, we all pay the cost."

French Gates, who is stepping down from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation next week, has pledged $1 billion to support women's issues and gender equality in the US.

"I want to help even the match," she writes.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation donated $81 million to Planned Parenthood's international affiliates in 2022, though the foundation also provided funding to pro-life organizations, including World Vision International, Forbes reports.

Warren Buffet, through the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, is the largest funder of abortion groups in the US, giving $2 billion to several pro-choice groups since 2000, analysis by CNN published Wednesday credited MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, with shifting philanthropy to a more collaborative, unrestricted giving that does not uphold traditional measures of impact.

French Gates' $1 billion pledge will support organizations focused on women and families over the next two years, including the Center for Reproductive Rights, National Women's Law Center, and the National

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