New Senate bill aims to protect privacy for charitable donors following pregnancy center case
New Senate bill aims to protect privacy for charitable donors following pregnancy center case
Publish Date: 2026-05-15 14:27:00
Source Domain: www.detroitcatholic.com
WASHINGTON (OSV News) ─ A bill reintroduced in the Senate May 14 would increase penalties for the unlawful disclosure of data identifying donors who contribute to nonprofit organizations, its authors said.
The legislation’s reintroduction comes shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, a group of faith-based pregnancy centers in New Jersey, to challenge in federal court a probe by the state’s attorney general seeking information about their donors.
The Protecting Charitable Giving Act, introduced by Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind., and James Lankford, R-Okla., would increase the penalty for “willful disclosure” of the identities of donors to tax-exempt organizations from its current cap of $5,000 to between $10,000 and $250,000.
It would also expand the jurisdiction of prosecution for such disclosures to include the judicial district where the alleged victim resides. Young’s office argued this would help ensure all cases are subject to a fair trial.
It was not immediately clear if the bill would be taken up by the Senate; a previous version was introduced in 2024.
“Anonymous giving has long been a way for Americans to support philanthropic organizations that rely on generous charitable contributions. In recent years, donor privacy has been threatened on too many occasions,” Young said in a May 14 statement. “This legislation will address the disclosure of donor data to better protect both charitable organizations and their donors.”
In a press statement announcing the reintroduction of the bill, Lankford’s office noted that in an effort to verify the legitimacy of tax-exempt organizations, the Internal Revenue Service requires nonprofit charitable organizations to collect the names and addresses of all major donors. However, this donor information is considered sensitive and is not subject to disclosure.
They argued that states like California and New York have sought to foreclose the disclosure of such information, citing a 2021…
