In the past year, at least 684 state lawmakers affiliated with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) have voted to make it illegal for pregnant people across the country to access the right to an abortion, according to a new analysis by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD).
Big tobacco had a big presence at last month’s 50th annual ALEC meeting: tobacco giant Altria bought access for two lobbyists to speak directly to state lawmakers – at least half a dozen of whom serve on their state’s health policy committees – during ALEC task force meetings in Orlando.
The pamphlets, handbills, and brochures were unanimous: though ending the constitutional right to abortion was a long-awaited victory, there was still plenty of work to be done. That is where ALEC lawmakers could step in.
One in every four members of the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF)—the group of Republican state treasurers, auditors, and other financial officers on the frontlines of the campaign against “woke capitalism”—has been a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council, the Center for Media and Democracy has found.