Abrams Funnels Millions to Campaign Chair's Law Firm - America Has A Black Sperm Donor Shortage | ITBP S6E33

In This weeks episode, the fellas talk about the allegations that Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams funneled millions in campaign dollars to her campaign chair’s law firm. We ask; how this is possible, and why isn’t this getting much coverage? And then we tackle the recent report that the Black community is suffering from a Black sperm donor crisis. Why is this an issue, who is affected, and what are the causes? And for our Black Light segment we are joined by community leader and local hero, Alex Mingus ( @mingusalex ) of Saint Paul Minnesota. His viral video of him condemning the police as he was receiving the medal of valor from the local police department had many cheering, and asking question. All that and much more.

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Stacey Abrams Funneling Campaign Funds - Politico

“ATLANTA — The voting rights organization founded by Stacey Abrams spent more than $25 million over two years on legal fees, mostly on a single case, with the largest amount going to the self-described boutique law firm of the candidate’s campaign chairwoman.

Allegra Lawrence-Hardy, Abrams’ close friend who chaired her gubernatorial campaign both in 2018 and her current bid to unseat Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, is one of two named partners in Lawrence & Bundy, a small firm of fewer than two dozen attorneys.

The firm received $9.4 million from Abrams’ group, Fair Fight Action, in 2019 and 2020, the last years for which federal tax filings are available. Lawrence-Hardy declined to comment on how much her firm has collected from Fair Fight Action in 2021 and 2022 — years in which Fair Fight Action v. Raffensperger, for which Lawrence-Hardy was lead counsel, had most of its courtroom activity.

Fair Fight Action has maintained that the suit — which ended last month when a federal judge ruled against the group on all three remaining claims — served an important role in drawing attention to voting inequities. But some outside the group questioned both the level of expenditures devoted to a single, largely unsuccessful legal action and the fact that such a large payout went to the firm of Abrams’ close friend and campaign chair. Those concerns were heightened by the fact that Abrams’ national campaign against voter suppression galvanized the Democratic Party, many of whose top donors helped fill its coffers.”

Black Sperm Donor Shortage - Washington Post

“Cryobanks reported that the number of Black women seeking their services to conceive rose sharply during the pandemic after increasing steadily over the years. Black women between the ages of 35 and 45 are far more likely to remain unmarried than women from other racial groups, according to the latest census data, with 44 percent of non-Hispanic Black women unmarried, compared with 16 percent of White women. Yet Black sperm donors represent just a fraction of available supply — fewer than 2 percent at the country’s four largest sperm banks, according to an analysis by The Washington Post.

The severe shortage is forcing Black women who need donor sperm into a painful choice: Choose a donor of another race and raise a biracial child or try to buy sperm from unregulated apps and online groups.

The reasons for the shortage are myriad: failure among cryobanks to recruit Black donors; a selection process that demands a three-generation medical history (which may be challenging for Black men who may not have access to quality health care) and excludes donors with felony convictions; mistrust of the medical profession by Black men because of a legacy of historical discrimination.

The search for donor sperm usually takes place on a cryobank website where someone can browse profiles of available donors with limited personal and genetic information. Baby pictures of donors may be available for an additional fee.

Brooks and Zurie leave to get ice cream in Newark, Del., on Sept. 30. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

Brooks straps Zurie into her car seat. The number of Black women turning to cryobanks to conceive rose sharply during the pandemic after increasing steadily over the years. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

There is a severe shortage of Black sperm donors at sperm banks. Brooks said she spent about 800 hours searching for a Black sperm donor but was unsuccessful. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

On average, sperm is sold for $950-$1,300 per vial. Donors receive $70-$150 per donation. The cryobanks sell a fixed number of vials per donor to limit the number of children fathered by any one donor.

Discounts, guarantees and the search for ‘good’ genes: The booming fertility business

There are more than 20 cryobanks in the country, four of which have more than 100 donors. Among the four (California Cryobank, Fairfax Cryobank, Seattle Sperm Bank and Xytex) supply fluctuates, but as of Oct. 11, there were only 12 Black donors out of a total of 748. White and Asian donors are disproportionately represented, while Hispanic donors are also underrepresented.

Of 15 women who talked to The Post, only one was able to buy sperm and conceive a child with a Black donor.”