Businesses that expressed opposition to restrictive voting laws are declining to take a similar stand on the abortion measure.
When Texas lawmakers advanced a restrictive voting rights bill this year, American Airlines and Dell Technologies, two of the state’s biggest employers, were early and vocal critics of the effort. But this week, as a law that prohibits most abortions after about six weeks took effect in Texas, both companies declined to comment on the measure. American Airlines and Dell were representative of the business community at large. While many corporations are taking stands on voting rights, climate change, immigration and other important matters, few companies would comment on the abortion law. Abortion is one of the country’s most politically and emotionally charged issues, and as much as 40 percent of the American public supports outlawing or severely restricting it, according to the Pew Research Center. Opposition to abortion often cuts across demographic groups, and most executives would be reluctant to take a public stand that was likely to anger or alienate a large group of customers and employees whatever they said. “No one is going to walk willingly through this door,” said Sandra Sucher, a professor of management at Harvard Business School. “If I’m a business making a political calculus, it’s just a matter of who I’m going to piss off.” Two dozen major companies contacted by The New York Times on Friday either did not reply or declined to comment. Among those that would not say something were McDonald’s, a sponsor of International Women’s Day; PwC, a major supporter of diversity and inclusion efforts; and Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines, which led a corporate backlash last year against a restrictive voting bill in Georgia, where they have their headquarters. Many of the biggest employers in Texas, including AT&T, Oracle, McKesson and Phillips 66, declined to comment. Even companies that are quick to speak up on social issues, including Patagonia and Levi’s, did not say anything about the new law. And Catalyst, a nonprofit organization that teams up with big companies to “build workplaces that work for women,” declined to comment. “When all of these companies who participate in things like International Women’s Day won’t speak out on reproductive health care, it shows that they care about the bottom line, not what women need and want,” said Lindsey Taylor Wood, chief executive of The Helm, a venture capital firm that funds female founders. But Elizabeth Graham, a vice president of Texas Right to Life, a group that backs the law, said it would be good for business in the state, claiming that a majority of people there are “conservative and pro-life.” “Many of our supporters are small and medium-sized business owners,” she said.
