Microsoft Forced to Stop Discriminating Against Pro-Life Conservatives

Microsoft has agreed to end its discriminatory practices against pro-life and conservative faith-based organizations

The computer business reportedly discriminated against pro-life groups by refusing them proper discounts on software that every other customer qualified received.

Alliance Defending Freedom, a pro-life conservative legal group said that Microsoft had applied a litmus test to deny discounts to nonprofits holding traditional religious views on life and sexuality. Alliance Defending Freedom alleged that Microsoft withheld discounts from the group itself, as well as from pro-life pregnancy resource centers and other nonprofits that decline to hire LGBTQ individuals for religious reasons.

SUPPORT LIFENEWS! If you want to help fight abortion, please donate to LifeNews.com!

Investors backed by ADF had planned to press Microsoft shareholders at the company’s December 5 annual meeting to demand a report on the discounting practices. In response, Microsoft clarified that nonprofits do not need to attest to nondiscrimination policies to qualify for the discounts and will not be required to do so in the future. The policy fix ensures eligibility for previously excluded organizations, effectively halting what conservatives described as ideological gatekeeping.

In a statement, Microsoft said its discount program is meant for “a broad group” of nonprofits.

“We don’t think it’s desirable to pick and choose among these organizations based on ideological orientation. In this instance, we found that a small number of organizations that should have been eligible for these discounts were not receiving them. We’ve fixed this and those organizations are now eligible.”

The agreement prompted the withdrawal of the shareholder proposal, marking a victory for pro-life and religious liberty advocates who viewed the original policy as a form of corporate censorship against conservative values.

“It’s important for Big Tech providers to treat people fairly and to not draw these squiggly lines that say, ‘Well, we’ll give you nonprofit pricing unless you’re a religious group,’” said Alexandra Gaiser, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom.