Democrats Are Taking Money From Pro-Israel PAC That’s Backing Anti-Abortion Candidates

On Tuesday, Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) won her primary against Bhavini Patel, her Democratic challenger. Lee defeated Patel by over 20 points in what many expected would be a competitive primary—especially as Patel attempted to cater to Republicans in the district, even calling on them to change parties to vote for her. Both candidates campaigned in support of abortion, as well as gun safety, LGBTQ rights, and affordable education. However, Lee supported a ceasefire in Gaza and was vocally critical of Israel’s war crimes against Palestinians where Patel campaigned on strong support for Israel.

Lee’s victory comes after she was heavily targeted by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in 2022. While AIPAC—the foremost pro-Israel lobby in the U.S. that’s aggressively campaigned in favor of Israel’s atrocities in Gaza—didn’t get involved in Lee’s primary this time, they’re currently involved in dozens of other Democratic primaries. And these Dem candidates, all of whom are campaigning on abortion rights, are accepting AIPAC’s endorsements, even though the PAC is simultaneously endorsing over 200 anti-abortion extremists.

Tuesday, Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) won her primary against Bhavini Patel, her Democratic challenger. Lee defeated Patel by over 20 points in what many expected would be a competitive primary—especially as Patel attempted to cater to Republicans in the district, even calling on them to change parties to vote for her. Both candidates campaigned in support of abortion, as well as gun safety, LGBTQ rights, and affordable education. But only one candidate—Lee—supported a ceasefire in Gaza and was vocally critical of Israel’s war crimes against Palestinians, where Patel campaigned on strong support for Israel. Lee won her race despite being heavily targeted by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)—the foremost pro-Israel lobby in the U.S. that’s aggressively campaigned in favor of Israel’s atrocities in Gaza—in 2022, which is currently endorsing and backing hundreds of anti-abortion Republicans this cycle, all while backing dozens of Democratic candidates.

AIPAC has described its Democratic candidates as “strong pro-Israel voices who are also leaders in the Black, Hispanic, Asian American Pacific Islander, and Progressive Caucuses.” House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi are among the top Democrats who have historically been closely aligned with the lobbying group. Though Jeffries recently defied the PAC for trying to unseat House Democrats who have called for a ceasefire, AIPAC remains his top contributor this election cycle. Pelosi, meanwhile, has maintained a decades-long relationship with them since the start of her political career. However, in 2022, an Israeli newspaper raised that she didn’t publicly acknowledge AIPAC’s endorsement of her that year, the same year the PAC endorsed over 100 Congressional Republicans who refused to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Also in 2022, former Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI), who is Jewish, expressed concern for Israel’s “creeping annexation” of Palestine and authored legislation to back a two-state solution—prompting AIPAC to give $3 million to his Democratic rival, Haley Stevens, who defeated and unseated Levins in their primary. In addition to Jeffries, other top House Democrats receiving funding from AIPAC’s $100 million spending push to unseat progressive candidates calling for a ceasefire this cycle include Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar of California, as well as Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX).

But as Democrats this election cycle campaign heavily on reproductive rights in the wake of Roe v. Wade‘s reversal, their cozy relationship with AIPAC is increasingly contradictory with their advocacy for reproductive rights. According to findings that Justice Democrats, a progressive political action committee, shared with Jezebel this week, AIPAC is currently endorsing over 200 anti-abortion Republicans, including dozens who have voted for or even co-authored legislation like the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act and the Life at Conception Act, which would establish fetal personhood.

“In a cycle where the threat of a national abortion ban under Donald Trump is greater than ever, no Democrat should be aligned with a Republican-funded Super PAC that endorses over 200 of the most anti-abortion Republican extremists seeking to criminalize reproductive freedom,” Usamah Andrabi, a spokesperson for Justice Democrats, said in a statement shared with Jezebel. 

As we’ve reported for months now, Israel’s war on Gaza has yielded horrific reproductive violence, including a reported 300% increase in miscarriages, rampant infections and diseases among pregnant women and new mothers, and a total dearth in access to reproductive care—still, Democratic lawmakers and candidates have rejected calls for a ceasefire and backed Israel’s war. Now, AIPAC’s alignment with the anti-abortion movement presents yet another example of how Democrats’ pro-Israel stances conflict with the party’s promises on reproductive rights during an especially pivotal election cycle.

 

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Andrabi specifically pointed to Reps. Cori Bush (D-MO) and Jamal Bowman (D-NY) in their competitive primaries against AIPAC-backed Democrats, Wesley Bell and George Latimer, respectively, who have both accepted endorsements and funding from the group: “AIPAC and the candidates they endorse—like Latimer and Bell—are making it clear that they are more than willing to compromise on the fight to protect abortion rights on behalf of their Republican megadonors.”

Latimer and Bell both publicly support reproductive rights. One of Latimer’s digital ads features an image of him in a doctor’s office with a woman, ostensibly demonstrating his stated advocacy for reproductive freedom (though, reproductive freedom probably precludes a politician in your doctor’s office with you??)—an issue that Bell is also heavily campaigning on. “Every woman, regardless of which state they live in, deserves to have the right to have an abortion, without interference from government or politicians,” Bell wrote earlier this month. Yet they both share a donor with over 200 anti-abortion extremists.

Among these anti-abortion Republicans endorsed and funded by AIPAC are all four co-chairs of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus (Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Michelle Fischbach (R-MN), Andy Harris (R-MD) and Kat Cammack (R-FL). Smith has the distinct dishonor of being the Congress member who’s introduced the most anti-abortion bills (83 bills). Other AIPAC endorsees include Reps. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) and Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO), who are tied as co-sponsors of the most anti-abortion bills in the House at 212 each.

Is AIPAC, funded by right-wing plutocrats and donating to members of congress who voted to override the results of the 2020 election, a part of this "coalition big and broad enough" to defeat anti-democratic forces? https://t.co/YC2wFhZrhh

— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) April 24, 2024

Earlier this month, a spokesperson for UNICEF who visited a maternity hospital in Gaza told Jezebel that about 10 newborns with congenital conditions and preterm babies are dying per day from preventable causes because the war-afflicted hospital lacks the medicine and resources to save them. Since October, the hospital has gone from delivering 18 babies per day to 75, and doctors report surging miscarriages, rampant malnutrition among pregnant people and newborns, and more and more preterm and unhealthy newborns. This should make it fairly clear to Democrats running on “reproductive freedom” that taking money from an organization supporting these horrors directly contradicts that position. 

“Democrats should be opposed to reproductive violence and barriers to abortion care everywhere they occur—especially when our own taxpayer dollars are funding the violence,” Andrabi said. “Palestinian or American, our commitment to protecting reproductive healthcare and abortion access should be universal.”

Of course, this requires rejecting Israel’s war on Gaza as well as political organizations that are backing both the war and U.S. anti-abortion lawmakers. “You don’t just accidentally endorse over 200 anti-abortion Republicans,” Lee said in a statement shared with Jezebel. “It’s clear that our reproductive rights is something AIPAC and their recruited candidates are willing to compromise on and that should be a red line for any Democrat.”

Correction 4/26/24: A recent version of this story stated that Bhavini Patel was endorsed by AIPAC. While Patel sought out AIPAC’s endorsement, the lobby group ultimately did not endorse her campaign nor did it donate any money. The story has been updated to reflect these changes.