In NYT ad, 187 CEOs decry new abortion laws, citing workers’ rights

The open letter, which links to a website, takes aim at stringent new laws in states including Georgia and Ohio, citing a threat to people’s ‘health, independence and economic stability.’

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In a new level of corporate positioning on social issues, scores of CEOs have written an open letter framing the abortion/choice debate as a matter of employees’ rights.

The authors include the chief executives of H&M, Twitter, Ben & Jerry’s, Warby Parker, Yelp and Postmates. The letter was presented in a full-page New York Times ad and has an accompanying website.

It states, in part:

Equality in the workplace is one of the most important business issues of our time.

When everyone is empowered to succeed, our companies, our communities and our economy are better for it.

Restricting access to comprehensive reproductive care, including abortion, threatens the health, independence and economic stability of our employees and customers. Simply put, it goes against our values and is bad for business. It impairs our ability to build diverse and inclusive workforce pipelines, recruit top talent across the states, and protect the well-being of all the people who keep our businesses thriving day in and out.

The future of gender equality hangs in the balance, putting our families, communities, businesses and the economy at risk.

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