There probably isn't a more contentious, culture war, dividing issue than the issue of abortion. One side argues on the side of life, usually quoting scripture or arguing that they are protecting the helpless. The other side usually argues for women's rights, that women should be able to make their own decisions. A good way to get death threats and angry letters is to write an opinion paper on the ethics of abortion. Thankfully, I write about campaign finance, and I think that this side of the issue is regrettably ignored. As I have argued many times (as well as many more high profile commentators), our government is bought by the donors of our politicians and lobbyists, and policy is not decided by public opinion (like a Democracy or Republic would normally operate). This seems to be the best explanation for why in the first half of 2011 alone, there were 162 anti-abortion bills enacted by state legislatures, despite most polls showing that public opinion leans heavily towards the pro-choice opinion.

Charmaine Yoest, of Americans United for Life, was behind at least 22 pro-life bills passed by these legislatures, according to a great profile by the Christian Science Monitor. Americans United for Life, despite being a relatively small outfit, spent $70,000 dollars on lobbying last year. One of their lobbyists, Mary Harned has been a frequent guest on Fox News, representing the group. One of the more notable bills they lobbied on was the Democrat's health-care reform. They were also a major player in the 2010 election, spending $349,615, all against Democrats. As a “not for-profit organization” they are not required to disclose their donors. They spent over $40,000 in the notable race that took down popular Democrat Alan Grayson, and a similar amount to unseat Democrat Chris Carney (who took a job at a major defense contractor just this week). They also donated directly ($2,000) to the very conservative Congressman Joe Barton.

Another large anti-abortion group is Right to Life. They are an even bigger lobbying giant with over $150,000 spent on federal lobbying already this year. They have spent almost $600,000 each of the past two years. They have lobbied on everything from abortion, taxes, Medicare, and foreign affairs. They lobbied for the attempted repeal of the health-care law (which has nothing to do with abortion) and Congress' attempt to rewrite the legal meaning of rape earlier this year. They are a political giant, with about 40 affiliated PACs, 2 Outside Spending Groups, and contributions to at least 16 different federal politicians.

The power of the anti-abortion lobby is probably shown when “libertarian” Ron Paul spent a large part of his straw-poll speech defending the pro-life position. To my knowledge, Gary Johnson is the only candidate in the vast Republican field that is pro-choice (and he stands no chance of winning and is kept out of many of the debates and polls by Republicans).

This week, Emily's List has made their endorsement in the Democratic primary to replace Wu in the special election (they chose Democrat Suzanne Bonamici). Emily's List is one of the major pro-choice money players. While they aren't a lobbying group, the group itself contributed/spent about $840,000 dollars last election cycle, all to/for female Democrats. All time, the biggest recipients from Emily's List is Senators Martha Coakley ($400,095) and Barbara Boxer ($367,127). Their PAC spending is even larger, as they gave over 6 million dollars to candidates in the 2010 cycle.

Of course, Planned Parenthood is another major pro-choice (Planned Parenthood provides many different services for women, including cancer screening and birth control) money group. In the 2010 elections, they spent almost a million dollars for Democrats and against Republicans. The got this money from a wide array of sources, including Capitol Group (Hedge Funds gave $255,000 to the group), a Hollywood Producer, and Stanford University. Barbara Boxer was the biggest beneficiary of this spending. As a lobbying group, they spent a million dollars in 08, and have spent about $700,000 this year. Of the thirteen lobbyists the group uses, 7 have formerly worked for the government.

In the spring, Republicans threatened to shut down the government over funding for Planned Parenthood. Democrats refused, and instead some conservation projects were defunded as a compromise. One would think that when life begins and government's job in ensuring it is a question that should be debated and answered by scientists, philosophers, and scholars. Instead, it is decided in the US by hedge fund managers, anonymous donors, lobbyists, and other money groups.