In the 72 hours since the Supreme Court ruling, Democrat hysteria has sucked up the most oxygen in the room — and that’s fine for corporate America. While some CEOs have taken their battle stations on Roe v. Wade’s sinking ship, perhaps the bigger story is how much isn’t. It has been an unusually quiet weekend for several of the country’s major brands, who have had nearly two months to consider their response. Is it cold feet from Disney’s cautionary tale – or could abortion be the new neutral ground?
The New York Times was just one of the papers scratching their heads at Big Business’s “muffled response” to Dobbs. “Companies are more vocal than ever about social issues,” emphasized reporters Emma Goldberg and Lora Kelley. But “not about abortion.” For the Times, the measured reactions were even more noticeable in June, when the pride flood so corporately consumes everything. “Most [brands] kept quiet,” the duo noted, “including some companies known for speaking out on social issues like Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ rights. Some companies that blacked out their Instagram pages in 2020 or had rainbow flags on their websites for Pride Month have been hesitant to comment on abortion until now.
“Executives are a bit wary of this,” admitted Dave Fleet, a PR expert at Edelman. “They’re worried about the backlash because they know there’s no way to please everyone.” In most boardrooms, there is a genuine fear of becoming the next Republican target — a fact that was evident in the ranks of this weekend’s “no comments”. Brands like Coca-Cola and Delta have been remarkably silent about Roe, which infuriated Americans by joining the Georgia electoral reform debate last year.
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But there are plenty of companies that don’t mind touching the hot stove of the culture wars, as 56 CEOs rushed to announce updated “healthcare” policies that include thousands of dollars in abortion and travel allowances:
That policy carries considerable risk, according to a new poll. In a Suffolk University/USA Today poll conducted the week before the Dobbs decision, Americans were asked whether they believed “corporations have a responsibility to speak out about abortion rights.” A whopping 67.5% said no, companies are not allowed to take sides. Only 27% supported the idea of political involvement. That’s even higher numbers than Rasmussen’s 2021 poll (66% for neutrality) and the Family Research Council’s May 2022 survey (57%), both of which found little appetite for more awake corporate activism.
Disney has been too busy burning its reputation to notice. Fresh from his Florida humiliation, CEO Bob Chapek has all but thrown in the towel to restore the franchise’s image. On Friday, employees leaked an internal memo from headquarters, reminding staff that abortion travel benefits were already available. That sparked another heated debate from employees like Jose Castillo, who don’t understand why the company is so determined to commit political suicide.
“You see the stock price falling,” Castillo told Fox News angrily. “There are people; there are employees who alienate them. Recently I spoke to a colleague who said: ‘I just don’t know how much longer I can stay with this company.’ And frankly, I’m sure there will be guys who will say, ‘Do I have to pay for a ticket to see a movie, to go to the theme parks that will eventually pay for someone’s abortion? ‘As I said, this was all their policy. They didn’t have to come out and send this memo to make a political statement.”
At Dick’s Sporting Goods, the outlook was equally unflattering. When CEO Lauren Hobart announced the company would join the travel allowance, Breitbart News demanded that the same $4,000 benefit be available to pregnant workers who keep their children. Dick refused to answer.
The policy inequality will almost certainly be the subject of legal action — not only because they unfairly promote abortion over childbearing, but because they also encourage lawlessness. It is a question, say, legal scholars, that companies will not be able to dodge for long. Robin Wilson, a law professor at the University of Illinois, told Reuters there could be criminal liability for helping employees circumvent state laws. “If you can sue me as a person for carrying your daughter across state lines, you can use Amazon to pay for it.”
For now, conservatives can take some comfort in the slowly changing tides. While certain CEOs will never be deterred from their activism, at least more companies are starting to think twice about thwarting half of their consumer base. And that in itself is a victory.
LifeNews Note: Suzanne Bowdey writes for the Family Research Council and the Washington Stand, where this originally appeared.