Is it sinful to buy something from a company when you know they support Planned Parenthood?

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The other night I was shopping to bring some stuff to a dinner a a friend’s house. They requested I bring Lays potato chips, which are part of Frito-Lay, which is a subsidiary of Pepsi, which donates to Planned Parenthood (though as far as I can tell, at the very least Frito-Lays’ donations are based on employee matching rather than straight up support). I went ahead and bought the chips, even though I was aware that Pepsi donates to Planned Parenthood. Did I commit a mortal sin in doing that with the knowledge of where my money might go? The friends are all pro-life by the way, they just weren’t aware of Frito-Lay’s relationship with PP and I didn’t want to be a downer by bringing it up.
 
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There are so many degrees of separation that there is no liability.

Today, one cannot really avoid spending money that supports corporations. With more and more companies—big and little–diving into political donations, it’s virtually impossible to function and not spend money on a product made by a company that donates to something anti-Catholic. Remember, most store brand products—including “brand” products like trader joe’s–are simply made by corporations on the same product lines, often with the same ingredients…so “Shop Happy” Chips are really Lay’s but with a different label. So even when you’re trying to avoid giving frito-lay/pepsi/name brand companies money you’re still doing it.

I tend to try to shop locally. For instance, on the east coast, we have Utz brand chips that purchased and support a number of local production lines. If someone asks me to bring a name brand product I’ll say “hey I can get 2 bags of Utz for the same price, do you mind if I grabbed that?” No one has ever said no.
 
That really helps, thanks! (Also I love your username, Kimmy Schmidt is one of my favorite shows haha)
 
@Xanthippe_Voorhees

Close up the thread, no need to discuss any further after that.
 
I’ll never understand why PP is such a huge target. Abortions is not what they’re known for. They provide a myriad of health services to women. That’s a good thing.
 
It’s interesting, on the level of the general premise of what you are saying.

Theologically speaking I’d say Xan provided you with a reasonable response.

Ethically, rather on a ‘personal’ level though, I do tend to pride myself on reviewing and researching people’s affiliations. I suppose I don’t see ignorance as an excuse (up to a certain knowable point) and try and make sure that I don’t support immoral causes where I can avoid them.

It’s rather picky and takes investment. But where possible, certainly avoid those with mirky attachments. Something for those who believe that ‘the ends don’t justify the means’ perhaps.
 
Link

PP performs over 300,000 abortions a year and has operated at that level for years. That’s 300,000 dead babies every year. No amount of good things that they do can overcome this evil.
 
There is direct and indirect support. You commit no sin if you indirectly support a corporation that is involved in gravely immoral and intrinsically evil acts, for example, by purchasing a product that donates to that corporation.

What people forget is that Planned Parenthood is legally a “not-for-profit” (not sure the exact status) so people can make tax-deductible donations. Major corporations often have a list of very large and influential non-profits and donating to them is a good investment not only because of the tax break but because of the potential for good publicity.

If you specifically buy a product because you know a little part of your money will support abortions or other evils, that’s a separate story. But if you buy a product because you like how it tastes, that’s not sinful.

Now, some social activists boycott some products, but not for religious reasons. They figure that economic loss will drive them to donate to another non-profit organization. But such actions hardly work, especially for very large corporations that only blink if the loss approaches the millions of dollars.
 
As others wrote, it’s impossible to avoid completely, but I think it is good to look into the available stores around when buying. Even if, for example, all the grocery stores support abortion, some stores might be more open about it while others are more secretive. I would choose the secretive one because while they donate to pro-abortion groups, they aren’t advertising it and leading their shoppers to jump on the bandwagon.
 
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