MacKenzie Scott, Jeff Bezos’s Ex, Donates $275 Million To Planned Parenthood

MacKenzie Scott, the former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, announced that she will donate $275 million to women’s healthcare provider Planned Parenthood, the largest donation that the organization has ever received from a single donor.

The donation, which is part of Scott’s pledge to give away most of her wealth, was made to Planned Parenthood’s national office and 21 regional affiliates.

“We are incredibly grateful for Ms. Scott’s extraordinary philanthropic investment in Planned Parenthood, as a critical part of the public health infrastructure,” Planned Parenthood Chief Executive Alexis MacGill Johnson said. “This funding will support our efforts to advance health equity by eliminating racial and structural barriers for our patients in the communities where Planned Parenthood works.”

Planned Parenthood works around the country to increase access to sexual and reproductive health information and services. The organization is currently in the political battle over abortion rights in U.S. state legislatures and courts.

As Republican-led states have passed many restrictions on abortion, such as a near-total ban on abortions in Texas, the United States has receded access to the procedure.

The conservative-leaning U.S. Supreme Court has signaled its willingness to reinstate a ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy in Mississippi, contradicting the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case that established the right to have an abortion before the fetus is viable, which is around 24 weeks.

The billionaire philanthropist has donated $3.8 billion to 465 charities since June.

“Our team’s focus over these last nine months has included some new areas, but as always our aim has been to support the needs of underrepresented people from groups of all kinds. The cause of equity has no sides,” Scott wrote.

On Tuesday, the Habitat for Humanity organization announced that Scott had donated $436 million, going toward the organization’s efforts to boost affordable housing and black homeownership.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Scott ranks as the world’s 22nd wealthiest person with a fortune of $55 billion. Bezos is the world’s second-richest individual, following Elon Musk, with a personal fortune of $188 billion.

According to Forbes, Scott was worth about $49 billion as of Wednesday.