Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg has recently donated $1 million to Planned Parenthood Action Fund. In an interview with HuffPost, Sandberg said she was motivated by the “draconian laws” protecting unborn children recently passed in red states like Alabama, Missouri, and Georgia.
“If you are a wealthy woman, you can just fly to New York,” Sandberg said. “I want to make sure that the women with the fewest resources still have access to these services, and I think that is slipping away every day in our country.”
Although Sandberg specified that her donation was a personal one, and not associated with Facebook, it is worth noting that in the last year the social media giant Sandberg leads has been caught censoring pro-life political ads.
Last fall, Facebook blocked and removed ads posted by the pro-life organization Susan B. Anthony List, saying they do not allow ads “that feature sensational or graphic content.” It’s unclear how SBA List’s ads featuring ultrasounds and newborn infants were either “sensational” or “graphic.” Facebook also blocked a pro-life ad supporting Tennessee Republican Senate candidate Marsha Blackburn before the 2018 mid-term election.
Why is Facebook so intent on disenfranchising Charlotte & Micah? They deserve to be allowed to tell their stories. But @Facebook is shutting down our ads that share how they survived premature births.
Charlotte ad – banned for being "too graphic" – decide for yourself: pic.twitter.com/DzRPl69phq
— Susan B. Anthony List #ModernizeOurLaw (@SBAList) October 24, 2018
“All the information presented in our ads has been factual, if surprising, to those unwilling to face the reality of pro-abortion extremism. Facebook is censoring the truth,” said SBA List president Marjorie Dannenfelser.
According to HuffPost, Sandberg also donated $1 million Planned Parenthood in 2017 and was a prominent backer of Hillary Clinton in 2016. Her latest donation, however, is specifically directed toward Planned Parenthood’s political machine, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, which often organizes against politicians in conservative and pro-life states. Planned Parenthood President Dr. Leana Wen thanked Sandberg in a statement for her “longstanding commitment to Planned Parenthood.”
“Now, more than ever, Sheryl’s generous support is necessary to help Planned Parenthood fight back against unprecedented attacks on people’s health and rights,” Wen said. “As anti-women’s health politicians try to pass extreme abortion bans across the country, our freedom and rights hang in the balance.”
Silicon Valley tech companies have not always been so accepting of their employees engaging in political speech. In 2014, Brendan Eich, the co-founder of Mozilla (Firefox), resigned as the non-profit’s CEO after he was attacked for financially supporting the National Organization for Marriage in 2008, the year the gay-marriage ban in California was overturned.
Earlier this month, an engineer at Pinterest was fired for leaking documents revealing the company’s internal bias and censorship of pro-life users. And let’s not forget the time Google fired engineer James Damore for writing a memo on sex differences.
The good news for Sandberg is that Silicon Valley is a marketplace of ideas and diversity of thought, as long as your ideas are aligned with the leftist mob and their correct thoughts. Thankfully, as we’ve seen with Facebook’s own behavior toward pro-lifers, the goals of Sandberg’s employer correctly align with her political donations.
