Women are undeniably going to influence the election this year, particularly so in Colorado. Democrats have nearly turned themselves inside out trying to convince women that Republicans don’t have their best interests at heart, with some Democrats falsely charging that Republicans want to take away birth control for women.
A quick look at the largest manufacturers of prescription birth control (e.g., birth control pills, patches, and rings as well as intrauterine devices) shows that these companies donate predominantly to Democrats. Shocking. To be clear, we’re not implying that’s necessarily the reason that Democrats have embraced this line of messaging. Truthfully, this line of messaging is more likely fear-mongering. That said, the financial relationship between birth control manufacturers and Democrats shouldn’t be overlooked.
By market capitalization, the top manufacturers of birth control include Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Pfizer, and Teva Pharmaceuticals. See the chart below.
According to Investopedia.com, Merck is the manufacturer of the NuvaRing; Johnson & Johnson owns Ortho-McNeil, the manufacturer of diaphragms and birth control pills Ortho Tri-cyclen and Ortho-Evra; Pfizer manufactures Depo-Provera contraceptive injection and several birth control pills including Lybrel and Loestrin; and, finally, Teva Pharmaceuticals owns Barr Pharmaceuticals, which produces oral contraceptives and IUDs.
A review of the companies’ political donation records shows a decided lean toward donating to President Obama’s campaign. In fact, overall, these companies’ donations reveals that their employees have given nearly four times as much to Obama’s campaign as they have to Romney’s campaign.
Again, we’re not saying the $175,000 in donations is necessarily driving messaging, but we do think it’s relevant to note the relationship, and to follow the money. We just think that voters should arm themselves with information before heading into the voting booth.