(Reuters) - Billionaire philanthropist Mackenzie Scott has donated $275 million to women's healthcare provider Planned Parenthood, the largest gift from a single donor in the organization's more than 100-year history, Planned Parenthood said on Wednesday.
The donation, which is part of Scott's pledge to give away most of his assets, was given to Planned Parenthood's national office and 21 regional affiliates.
Scott, now married to Seattle science teacher, Dan Jewett, received a 4% stake in Amazon.com Inc. as part of her divorce from Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos.
Planned Parenthood, which provides abortion and other health services at its clinics across the country, is at the forefront of the political battle over abortion rights in US state legislatures and courts.
Access to abortion in the United States is declining as Republican-led states have passed tougher restrictions on the procedure, including an almost complete ban on abortion in Texas, which is facing legal challenges.
The conservative-leaning US Supreme Court is likely to scrap constitutional protections for abortion this spring.
The court has indicated its desire to restore a ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy in Mississippi. This would contradict the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case which established the right to abort before a fetus is viable, which is approximately 24 weeks.
"As an important part of the public health infrastructure, we are incredibly grateful for Ms. Scott's extraordinary philanthropic investment in Planned Parenthood," Planned Parenthood chief executive Alexis McGill Johnson said in a statement.
"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."
In a Medium post on Wednesday, Scott said he had donated more than $3.8 billion since last June to 465 nonprofits, including Planned Parenthood.
“Over the past nine months our team has added a few new areas of focus, but as always our aim has been to support the needs of underrepresented people from all types of groups. Equity has no favors. , "She wrote.
On Tuesday, Habitat for Humanity announced that Scott had donated $436 million that will go toward the organization's efforts to promote affordable housing and Black homeownership.
Scott was worth about $49 billion as of Wednesday, according to Forbes.