The Supreme Court’s decision to end the nation’s constitutional defense against abortion has catapulted businesses of all kinds into the most bifurcated corner of politics.
Some companies that were silent last month – when Judge Samuel Alito’s draft opinion leaked to Politico – spoke for the first time on Friday, including The Walt Disney Company, which said it would reimburse employees who have to travel outside the state. to get an abortion.
The mother of Facebook Meta, American Express, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs also said they would cover employees’ travel expenses, while others such as Apple, Starbucks, Lyft and Yelp echoed previous reports that had taken similar action. Outdoor clothing maker Patagonia went so far as to announce on LinkedIn on Friday that it would provide “training and a guarantee for those who peacefully protest for reproductive justice” and time to vote.
But of the dozens of major companies the Associated Press approached on Friday, many such as McDonald’s, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, General Motors, Tyson and Marriott did not respond. Arkansas-based Walmart – the country’s largest employer with many of its stores in states that will immediately trigger abortion bans following the Supreme Court ruling on Friday – is also silent.
Meanwhile, the Business Roundtable, an organization that represents some of the most powerful companies in the country, said it “has no position on the substance of the case.”
Much is at stake for companies, many of which have publicly committed themselves to promoting women’s equality and progress in the workplace. For those in states with restrictive abortion laws, they could now face major challenges in attracting college-educated workers who can move easily.
Louis von Anne, CEO of the language application Duolingo, sent a tweet on Friday to lawmakers in Pennsylvania, where the company is headquartered: “If the PA makes abortion illegal, we will not be able to attract talent and will have to expand our offices elsewhere . ”
The decision and impending abortion bans are also threatening a technology boom in places like Austin, Texas, as companies like Dell – which has already become more flexible to telecommuting due to a tight labor market – are struggling to hire new technology graduates. to their corporate centers, said Stephen Pedigo, a professor who studies economic development at the University of Texas at Austin.
“Instead of staying in Austin, do you go to New York, Seattle or the Gulf region?” I think this is a real opportunity, “Pedigo said. “It becomes much more challenging, especially when you look at a young, progressive workforce, as technology workers usually are.”
Emily M. Dickens, chief of staff and head of government affairs at the Society for Human Resource Management, said in a statement that nearly a quarter of organizations in a recent survey agreed that offering a health savings account to cover travel for reproductive care in another the state will improve their ability to compete for talent.
“But how these policies interact with state laws is unclear, and employers need to be aware of the legal risks,” she said.
Dickens noted that companies that use a third-party administrator to process claims on their behalf – usually large employers – are subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, not state law. But companies that have to buy their own health insurance for their employees – usually small businesses – are subject to government regulation and have less flexibility in designing benefits.
Offering to cover travel costs could also make companies a target for anti-abortion lawmakers. In March, Texas Republican Briscone Kane, a Republican, sent a letter of termination and denial to Citigroup, saying he would propose legislation banning states in the state from doing business with any company that provides travel benefits. of employees seeking abortion.
In a concerted opinion released Friday, Judge Brett Cavanaugh suggested it would be unconstitutional for a state to ban residents from traveling to another state to have an abortion.
“In my opinion, the answer is not based on the constitutional right to travel interstate,” Cavanaugh wrote.
But the right of a corporation to fund something that would be illegal in another state is still in question, said Teresa Colette, a law professor at St. Thomas University.
“This is not a matter of interstate trade in itself,” she said. “So you need the right plaintiff.”
Technology companies, meanwhile, face difficult questions about what they will do if some of their millions of clients in the United States are prosecuted for abortion. Services such as Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft routinely transmit digital data sought by law enforcement agencies that conduct criminal investigations. This raises concerns for privacy advocates about the application of abortion laws, which use period applications, phone location data and other sensitive online health information.
A letter from four Democrats in Congress on Friday called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Google and Apple’s phone tracking practices, warning that location identifiers used for advertising could fall into the hands of prosecutors or bounty hunters who want to ” to persecute women who have had or are seeking an abortion. ”
The Supreme Court ruling comes at a time when companies are increasingly relying on women to take jobs, and especially as they face labor shortages across the country. Women now make up nearly 50 percent of the U.S. workforce, a dramatic increase of 37.5 percent in 1970 – three years before the Supreme Court ruled that abortions were legal in Roe v. Wade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Denied access to abortion can hit low-income workers the hardest, because they are usually in jobs with fewer protections and who are also demanding, from loading groceries on store shelves to working as a healthcare assistant.
“As a result, more women will be forced to choose between paying rent or traveling long distances to receive safe abortion care,” said Mary Kay Henry, international president of the International Union of Service Workers, who represents 2 million cleaners, health workers and teachers in the United States “Working women are already struggling to work in poverty without paid leave, and many are also taking responsibility for caring for their families, usually unpaid.”
Sarah Nelson, president of the Stewardess Association, told the Associated Press that the decision was “devastating.”
“This is the basis of all the work that our union has done for 75 years,” she said. “This decision is not about whether someone supports abortion or not. This is distraction … It’s about whether or not we respect women’s rights to determine our own future. ”
Maurice Schweizer, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business School, said a handful of companies are taking a stand on the court’s decision because their clients and employees expect them to speak out.
“We are at a time when we expect corporate leaders to be leaders in the political sphere,” he said. “Many employees expect to work in companies that not only pay them well, but also whose values are in line with theirs.
But the vast majority of executives are likely to avoid the thorny issue and focus on things like inflation or supply chain disruptions, he said.
This also involves risks.
“They can either support travel outside the country and risky lawsuits and the anger of local politicians, or they can not include this coverage and risk the anger of employees,” Schweizer said.
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AP business writers Matt O’Brien in Providence, Rhode Island; Dean-Ann Durbin in Detroit; Barbara Ortutei in San Francisco; David Koenig in Dallas and Ken Sweet in New York contributed to the story.
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