David Karp, center, onstage at SxSW with Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards, right, and... [+]
Seventy-four tech founders, billionaires, CEOs, and investors have signed an open letter to Congressional leaders urging them to reject the GOP plan to defund Planned Parenthood.
The group, led by Tumblr founder and CEO David Karp, includes industry bigwigs Chris Sacca of Lowercase Capital; Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield; Reddit's Alexis Ohanian; Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz, and Cowboy Ventures partner Aileen Lee.
In the March 16th letter, Karp and his peers "urge Congress not to pursue any legislation that blocks women from accessing critical preventive care – including well-woman exams, birth control, and cancer screenings" at the nonprofit's health centers:
"We know Planned Parenthood’s care and leadership have been instrumental to this success. We are committed to supporting their ability to build on this important work and, above all, we are connected to Planned Parenthood’s mission which so closely resembles what we stand for as leaders in technology: creating opportunity for everyone to chart their own path in life and pursue their own ingenuity – without barriers or fear.
That will not be possible for the millions of people who rely on Planned Parenthood if Congress moves forward with legislation to deny them access to critical preventive care. We stand with the majority in this country who reject this harmful agenda and believe no person should have to overcome political hurdles to take care of their health."
This group effort follows a high-profile partnership between Tumblr and Planned Parenthood at this past week's South by Southwest conference and festival in Austin, Tex.
Karp, a board member at the health nonprofit, joined the group's president Cecile Richards onstage to launch #TechStandsWithPP, a rallying cry for Silicon Valley's support of women's healthcare rights. The microblogging network's employees donated $80,000 to the nonprofit in February.
At SxSW, Tumblr held a well-attended 'Never Going Back' fundraiser at the annual digital and entertainment confab, with Planned Parenthood patients and celebrities alike addressing crowds on the importance of its affordable healthcare services between musical acts.
AUSTIN, TX - MARCH 12: Girlpool perform onstage during Never Going Back Presented by Tumblr in... [+]
On Thursday, Richards thanked the 74-strong tech group for their support, saying in a statement: "It’s especially important right now as we’ve made tremendous gains in this country, thanks to expanded access to reproductive health care and birth control. We are at a 30-year low in unintended pregnancies, and a historic low in teen pregnancies. Now is not the time to roll that progress back."
The letter can be read in its entirety here. As of March 16th, signatories included the list below. Conspicuous in their absence: leaders of industry giants Apple, Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft.
David Karp, CEO, Tumblr
Erin Bagwell, CEO, Dream, Girl Film
Jessica Banks, CEO, RockPaperRobot
Hayley Barna, Venture Partner, First Round Capital
Phin Barnes, Partner, First Round Capital
Scott Belsky, Founder, Behance
Brett Berson, Partner, First Round Capital
Kiran Bhatraju, CEO, Arcadia Power
John Borthwick, CEO, Betaworks
Bryan Breckenridge, Executive Director, Box.org
DeVaris Brown, CTO, Super Heroic Inc.
Kristina Budelis, President, KitSplit
Stewart Butterfield, CEO, Slack
Karen Cahn, CEO, IFundWomen
Anthony Casalena, CEO, Squarespace, Inc.
Cariann Chan, CEO, Level
Sara Chipps, CEO, Jewelbots
Alex Chung, CEO, Giphy
Erin Clift, CMO, Kik Interactive, Inc.
David Cohen, co-CEO, Techstars
Meghan Conroy, CEO, Captureproof
Dennis Crowley, Executive Chair, Foursquare
Jess Davidoff, CEO, Admittedly
Kelsey Doorey, CEO, Vow To Be Chic
Avriel Epps, Cofounder, SeekU
Brad Feld, Managing Director, Foundry Group
Elizabeth Francis, Partner, Brilliant Ventures
Jeffrey Glueck, CEO, Foursquare
Jocelyn Goldfein, Managing Director, Zetta Venture Partners
Kristen Goldstein, CEO, HireAthena
Lisa Hammann, Vice President and Region Head, North American Supply Chain, Genentech
Corie Hardee, CEO, Union Station
Julia Hartz, CEO, Eventbrite
Rob Hayes, Partner, First Round Capital
Scott Heiferman, CEO, Meetup
David Hirsch, Managing Partner, Compound VC
Grant Hughs, CSO, FocusMotion
Jennifer Hyman, CEO, Rent the Runway
Kellee James, CEO, Mercaris
Harleen Kahlon, CEO, Bolde
Josh Kopelman, Partner, First Round Capital
Sarah Lacy, CEO, PandoMedia
Aileen Lee, Managing Partner, Cowboy Ventures
Aaron Levie, CEO, Box
Jake Levine, CEO, Electric Objects
Moj Mahdara, CEO, Beautycon Media
Melody McCloskey, CEO, StyleSeat
Joanna McFarland, CEO, HopSkipDrive
Sheel Mohnot, Partner, 500 Startups
Howard Morgan, Partner, First Round Capital
Paul Murphy, CEO, Dots
Alexis Ohanian, Cofounder, Reddit
Eric Paley, Managing Partner , Founder Collective
Deven Parekh, Managing Director, Insight Venture Partners
Satya Patel, Partner, Homebrew
Georg Petschnigg, CEO, FiftyThree
Bijan Sabet, General Partner, Spark Capital
Chris Sacca, Chairman, Lowercase Capital
Noa Santos, CEO, Homepolish
Kenneth Schlenker, CEO, Stellar Base
Brian Shimmerlik, CEO, Vengo
Kristen Sonday, COO, Paladin
Robert Stavis, Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners
Jennifer Sutton, CPO, EVRYTHNG
Doug Ulman, CEO, Pelotonia
Hunter Walk, Partner, Homebrew
Rick Webb, COO, Timehop
Kara Weber, Partner, Brilliant Ventures
Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, CEO, Fitz
Fred Wilson, Partner, Union Square Ventures
Joanne Wilson, Owner, Gotham Gal Ventures
Denielle Wolf, CDO, Arloskye
Tim Wu, Professor of Law, Columbia University
Susan Zheng, CEO, Planted
