From Open Secrets: Restrictive Texas abortion law takes effect while abortion-rights groups continue to spend more than anti-abortion groups

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Money spent on abortion-rights federal lobbying dipped to one of the lowest totals in recent years in 2020 ahead of Texas’ restrictive abortion law going into effect that bans abortions after six weeks and places enforcement power on citizens.

The abortion-rights lobby spent just $1.3 million on federal lobbying in 2020. While it’s more than what the industry spent in 2019 (just more than $1 million), it’s the least amount spent on lobbying during an election year since 2012. In 2018, the industry put nearly $2.1 million toward lobbying and in 2016, the industry totaled about $2 million in lobbying. So far in 2021, the industry has put $996,729 toward lobbying.

While the clients lobbying for abortion rights and access have seen dips in their lobbying spending, the industry still spends more in a given year on federal lobbying than anti-abortion policy groups. However, the clients lobbying against abortion are trending toward increasing their lobbying spend.

In 2016, the anti-abortion lobby spent just $700,000. In 2018 that total jumped to about $1.1 million. And the industry matched its 2018 total in the 2019 off-year spending. During the 2020 presidential election year, clients lobbying against abortion spent about $1.1 million. It’s not clear if the industry will meet its 2020 pace, though, as it’s only spent $460,000 so far in 2021.

Over the last decade, abortion access across the United States has declined with laws in conservative states curtailing how long a person has to seek an abortion during their pregnancy, and the steps they need to take to actually have the procedure.