After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, women's health may become an even bigger key topic for the 2024 election.
Billionaire and philanthropist Melinda French Gates wants to ensure voters know how important the issue and female voters are.
What Happened: French Gates, who recently stepped down as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, shared her thoughts on women's rights and the election in a recent interview.
"It will come down to the women turning out in the battleground states," French Gates said during an interview with CBS.
French Gates said female voters turned out in the mid-term elections and will have to do it again.
When asked if she planned to endorse a candidate and how she would voting in the 2024 election, French Gates said it was important to share that she has voted for Republican and Democratic candidates in past elections.
"I cannot vote for a man who rolls back women's reproductive rights and says the heinous things he does about women."
French Gates said she will not be voting for Donald Trump and will be voting for President Joe Biden in the 2024 election.
French Gates and ex-husband Bill Gates have typically not endorsed politicians, according to a TIME report. In an interview with the magazine, French Gates also confirmed how her 2024 vote would go.
"There's no chance I could vote for Donald Trump. Not a single chance."
The philanthropist said she plans on increasing her political giving due to the importance of women's rights in the U.S.
"We have absolutely seen a rollback in the last two years. And we are not seeing good progress on maternal mortality in this country. We're not seeing good progress on women's well-being. So I'm stepping up my political giving alongside my charitable because I think we can move things like paid family medical leave further if I'm doing both."
Related Link: Donald Trump Backs Away From National Abortion Ban: ‘This Is All About The Will Of The People’
Why It's Important: French Gates said her stepping down from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation wasn't a sudden move and rather an "evolution."
"This seems like the right time," French Gates said.
French Gates founded Pivotal Ventures in 2015 in an effort to support empowerment for women and girls. Pivotal now has a fully charitable arm that will be supported with $12.5 billion as part of her deal in leaving the newly named Gates Foundation.
French Gates is supporting women's rights with the first $1 billion from Pivotal Ventures. The money is going to groups that include the Center for Reproductive Rights, National Women's Law Center and the National Domestic Workers Alliance.
French Gates recalled not feeling that others saw her as smart and talented, something she hopes to fix by empowering other women.
"They're told you're not enough, you don't know enough. Somebody speaks over you. Somebody speaks for you."
French Gates is worth $13.3 billion according to a report from Bloomberg.
The philanthropist is an influential voice and her comments could increase the thinking on how important women's rights will be in the 2024 election.
Read Next: Trump ‘Openly Talks’ About His Pride In Overturning Roe V. Wade, Says Kamala Harris: ‘How Dare He’
Photo: USAID, courtesy Flickr Creative Commons
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Comments
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
