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Abortion and the Politics of Reproductive Rights in the Post-Roe Era


chasfh

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This is the first shot across the bough I have seen about companies trying to navigate local laws in states where abortion is now or will soon become outlawed.

I believe many, many companies will solve this problem by moving operations out of such states, or at least refusing to move operations there.

2. Tech companies face tough calls post-Roe

Illustration of a caduceus and question mark.

 

Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios

 

In offering to pay for workers who need to travel out of state to get an abortion, tech companies are only tackling the first of many challenges they will have to navigate in a post-Roe world.

Our thought bubble: Tech companies have plenty of money to cover the costs of such travel, but will face much tougher decisions when it comes to expansion, locating conferences, which politicians to support as well as how to handle court orders for customer data by prosecutors.

Driving the news: On Friday, the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, the federal precedent that ensured legal access to abortion throughout the U.S., with a number of states immediately making abortion illegal and others poised to quickly follow suit.

  • A number of companies in the tech industry and beyond have announced or reiterated policies to cover both the travel and medical costs for workers who need to travel to another state to get abortion care.

  • Some companies, such as Pittsburgh-based Duolingo, also warned that they may limit expansion in places that outlaw abortion.

  • None have talked in any detail about how they might handle requests from prosecutors. However, as we have reported, it's an issue sure to come up.

The big picture: A wide range of data could be sought by prosecutors, from purchases of pregnancy tests and ovulation kits on Amazon, to messaging data from Facebook, to location data from Google or cellular carriers.

Between the lines: Even paying for travel could prove to be more complicated than just offering up the money.

  • Employees may have to share their pregnancy status and other sensitive medical information with employers in order to get such coverage.

  • That information could be subpoenaed by law enforcement, and pregnancy-related discrimination is still a big issue in the tech industry.

  • Plus, it makes workers even more dependent on their employers and highlights a fresh challenge for freelancers and contractors who work for tech companies without full benefits.

Be smart: The Digital Defense Fund has updated its online Abortion and Pregnancy Privacy Guide for consumers on how to protect their mobile and online data.

Go deeper: Without Roe, data will become a company headache and a user nightmare

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1 minute ago, chasfh said:

Yes. This sounds interesting. I was going to pursue Italian citizenship again so I could get my foot into the EU. It's not an easy process but shit is getting real in the US. I

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32 minutes ago, Crazy Cat Gentleman said:

*bow, like that of a ship

I have any number of noisy obnoxious red squirrels on my lot for whom a shot across the bough would be just the thing, but we must bend low at the waist to naval history as being a richer source of metaphor than our arboreal rodent friends, who in this case have to settle for blinding stumbling into their sparser nuggets of lexicographal reputation.  

Edited by gehringer_2
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33 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

Yes. This sounds interesting. I was going to pursue Italian citizenship again so I could get my foot into the EU. It's not an easy process but shit is getting real in the US. I

Montenegro gets you right across the Adriatic from "the heel of the boot". Or Bari, Italy, if you prefer.

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1 minute ago, 1984Echoes said:

Montenegro gets you right across the Adriatic from "the heel of the boot". Or Bari, Italy, if you prefer.

My mother is a dual Italian-American citizen. Italy seems like the easiest avenue into the EU. I actually contacted the Italian consulate to see about starting the process or if I'm even eligible and then the pandemic hit and I hunkered down for two years. 

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55 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

Pretty amazing how something in one state can be illegal and punishable by prison sentences upwards and over 10 years and in other states it is perfectly legal. No other developed country in the world has such radically different laws depending on what geographic location you are in. 

To think this is not even the first law to come to mind.

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1 hour ago, Tigerbomb13 said:

Quite a few female friends that don’t fall anywhere on the political spectrum have been posting things similar to this. The GOP is going to have a huge problem with moderates. 

EB74004C-78A9-4114-BFCA-CE2FAACF2D74.jpeg

This comes on the heels of something that came across my alerts from AP news:

More Than 1 Million Voters Switch to GOP in Warning to Dems

Of course, that’s broadly in the past year, not related to the Roe overturning. We’ll see whether that has any impact.

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1 hour ago, oblong said:

I hope so. I hope these narrow minded people who live in their church/religious school bubbles come to realize how out of touch they really are.

 

I think there are other people who are also in other types of bubbles:

I would put it: I hope these narrow minded people who live in their college/hang-out-with-friends/work&play-work&play/ politics: "What Me Worry" bubbles come to realize how out of touch they really are, and how their lives are now affected by being so out of touch.

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1 minute ago, chasfh said:

This comes on the heels of something that came across my alerts from AP news:

More Than 1 Million Voters Switch to GOP in Warning to Dems

Of course, that’s broadly in the past year, not related to the Roe overturning. We’ll see whether that has any impact.

Also...

It's misleading.

630K switched from Republican to Dem, and 1 MM the other way, for a net change of 370K.

They neglected to mention the other direction until mid-way through the article. Also, at 370K... I'm just guessing that that number is going to swing the other way... quickly and fiercely.

But I'm just guessing.

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9 minutes ago, 1984Echoes said:

Also...

It's misleading.

630K switched from Republican to Dem, and 1 MM the other way, for a net change of 370K.

They neglected to mention the other direction until mid-way through the article. Also, at 370K... I'm just guessing that that number is going to swing the other way... quickly and fiercely.

But I'm just guessing.

Good catch.

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It’s hard to say how many people know somebody that’s had an abortion.   

I can promise you that everyone on this board knows someone that’s had a difficult pregnancy where at some point the mother’s well being was in question.  

It’s unfathomable that a married mother who gets pregnant from doing things that married couples do will be forced to have the baby despite what damage it may do to her.   I can think of 20 other similar scenarios where this will law impact the well being of the mother.   

Amazing the lack of regard these people have for what goes on during a pregnancy.  It’s just not as easy as have sex and 9 months later baby is born.   Many people will die because of this decision. 

Edited by Hongbit
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1 minute ago, Hongbit said:

It’s hard to say how many people know somebody that’s had an abortion.   

I can promise you that everyone on this board knows someone that’s had a difficult pregnancy where at some point the mother’s well being was in question.  

It’s unfathomable that a married mother who get pregnant from doing things that married couples do will be forced to have the baby despite what damage it may do to her.   I can think of 20 other similar scenarios where this will law impact the well being of the mother.   

Amazing the lack of regard these people have for what goes on during a pregnancy.  It’s just not as easy as have sex and 9 months later baby is born.   Many people will die because of this decision. 

That’s OK, the baby will live and become a productive member of whatever farm or service job they are assigned to.

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