ICYMI: Tim Michels Uses Personal Family Foundation to Back Radical Agenda
Michels Has Given Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars to Groups Advocating to Ban Abortion, Contraception, IVF, and Same-Sex Marriage
MADISON, Wis. — Tim Michels uses his family’s foundation to further his radical agenda, donating sizable amounts to groups advocating for banning abortion and contraception and seeking to limit LTGBQ rights. The Journal Sentinel reports Michels’ foundation spending “provide[s] a window into how Michels may approach policymaking.”
In one instance, Michels gave $175,000 to Wisconsin Right to Life and Pro-Life Wisconsin. Pro Life Wisconsin is so extreme it calls for completely outlawing abortion with no exceptions for rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother; banning contraception; and even banning in-vitro fertilization. Michels supports Wisconsin’s 1849 ban on abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest – a position so extreme, even 79% of Republicans disagree with it.
Michels also gave to churches with extreme views on the LGTBQ community, including one whose pastor called transgender people an “abomination.”
Read more about how Michels spends his money to further his radical agenda below.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Republican governor candidate Tim Michels uses his personal foundation to fund anti-gay and anti-abortion groups
Wisconsin’s Republican candidate for governor Tim Michels and his wife donated $250,000 to anti-LGBTQ and anti-abortion groups, representing about 15% of his total donations in 2020.
The Timothy and Barbara Michels Family Foundation funded organizations that oppose all forms of contraception and abortions in all cases. The foundation also spent thousands on churches with anti-LGBTQ beliefs.
The donations provide a window into how Michels may approach policymaking on such issues if elected governor if he unseats incumbent Tony Evers, who does not have a foundation.
Abortion is a key issue leading into the general election as Democrats are seeking to broaden rights and Republicans, including Michels, want to greatly restrict the procedures.
Campaign spokesperson Anna Kelly said the Michels family’s philanthropy is not political.
“While the media is desperate to find lines of attack, their generosity helps support causes they believe in and funds cancer research and other Christian causes,” Kelly said.
Tim and Barbara Michels list themselves as the two sole trustees of the Timothy & Barbara Michels Family Foundation.
Wisconsin, New York anti-abortion groups, churches receive money
The Michels foundation gave a total of $175,000 in 2020 to Wisconsin Right to Life and Pro Life Wisconsin Education Task Force and Avail NYC, a New York City crisis pregnancy center.
Pro Life Wisconsin’s agenda calls for completely outlawing abortion and would ban most common forms of contraception and birth control and prohibit in vitro fertilization. That goes beyond the 1849 abortion ban.
Democratic Party spokeswoman Hannah Menchhoff said Michels’ foundation donations make it clear he prioritizes banning abortions without exceptions.
“Tim Michels will stop at nothing to push his radical agenda in order to limit the rights of LGBTQ Wisconsinites and those seeking an abortion,” Menchhoff said. “If elected, Tim Michels will implement radical policies that are out of touch with the majority of Wisconsinites.”
The most recent Marquette University Law School Poll showed 28% of Republicans and 62% of independents opposed the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Overall, 60% of poll respondents opposed the decision.
In the same poll, 79% of Republicans said they believe Wisconsin should allow a woman to obtain a legal abortion if she became pregnant as the result of rape or incest.
The Michels’ foundation donated $10,000 to Christ Fellowship in Miami, according to 990 reports.
The church gained notoriety in 2015, when one of its most famous parishioners, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, announced his bid for presidency and the megachurch’s leaders anti-trans and anti-gay comments were discovered.
The Christ Fellowship’s pastor, Omar Giritli, in June called arguments for exception to abortions in cases of rape or incest “deceptive reasoning.”
“And the hurt and the pain caused by those sinful actions are deep, and they are lasting. And so no one should ever minimize, listen carefully — no one should ever minimize the severity and the pain that those actions cause. However, and here’s what I want to help us process: is the killing of an innocent child the solution? Nowhere in God’s word does it say you cover up a wrong with another wrong,” Giritli said.
Giritli, who was named pastor of the church in 2019, also preached in May that God believed transgender individuals were an “abomination” and a “rebellion to their creator.”
The couple also donated $50,000 to Spring Creek Church in Pewaukee and $5,000 to Elmbrook Church in Brookfield.
Spring Creek Church’s Pastor Chip Bernhard has suggested that people who have an abortion need forgiveness, and allowing transgender children to use the bathroom of their choice is “awful.”
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