- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
- 'Imperfect' PSG fighting on all fronts - Luis Enrique
- Struggling Pakistan look to thwart adaptable England
- Child 'trampled to death' in asylum seekers' Channel crossing: minister
- Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova
- Guardiola claims Premier League won't delay season for Man City
- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
- Gauff fights back to reach China Open final
- Recovering Stokes ruled out of first Pakistan Test
- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
US companies break long silence on abortion rights
After carefully avoiding the taboo topic for decades, more and more US companies are taking a stand on the right to abortion, a sign of a new generation with growing influence and very different expectations than their predecessors.
Mere hours after the leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion indicating the national right to abortion would be overturned, a variety of American businesses began to react publicly.
"Given what is at stake, business leaders need to make their voices heard and act to protect the health and well-being of our employees," Levi Strauss said in a statement. "That means protecting reproductive rights."
Like the iconic denim brand, Apple has also pledged to cover costs for employees who have to travel to another state to get an abortion.
Revoking the nationwide right to abortion "will jeopardize the human rights of millions of women," the review platform Yelp told AFP, saying it would have "a seismic impact on our society and economy" and urging other companies to "step up to safeguard their employees."
Since Texas in September implemented a law banning abortion after six weeks -- before many women even know they are pregnant, and with no exceptions for rape or incest -- the stigma on speaking out has started to break.
Amazon, Uber and even the bank Citigroup have all announced they will cover the additional costs that the Texas legislation might cause for their employees.
"We're in a very unusual political time where this issue's come back up as a pressing political issue, and it will force companies to take a stand," said Maurice Schweitzer, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton business school.
"Businesses that are located in states that might overturn (abortion access), they have to make a decision one way or the other: Are they going to offer that benefit in terms of travel to a location where those services could be accessed? Or are they not?" said Neeru Paharia, a professor at the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business.
"It kind of forces a lot of these (companies) to take a stand on this issue."
According to The New York Times, Tesla, which moved its headquarters from California to Texas, has also pledged to cover its employees' abortion-related expenses.
- 'New generational thing' -
The newfound boldness of US businesses is also tied to the fact that "in this country, people who are pro-choice are larger in number than people who are anti-abortion," said Paharia.
The announcements by several leading companies are part of a "general trend" that has been developing for the past decade and "picked up steam" under former US president Donald Trump, she said.
Immigration, LGBT rights, gun regulations, the Black Lives Matter movement, voting rights -- hot-button issues keep coming up, in a climate of heightened polarization, and many companies have been pressured to respond by their employees.
"This is a new generational thing," explained Mark Hass, a journalism and communication professor at Arizona State University. "The millennial generation, Gen Z are... increasingly concerned about who they work for, the values of those companies."
"Companies like Apple, companies like Amazon, companies like Uber... rely on having the best employees," he said. "So their employees are sort of their North Star," or guiding force.
Paharia agreed: "It's a tight labor market, and certain kinds of job skills are hard to come by."
In a country where public confidence in elected officials has been eroding for many years, employees are also expecting more from their employers, she said.
Schweitzer made a distinction between the new economy's flagship companies, whose employees are better educated than average and often able to work anywhere, and more traditional companies, which are sometimes located in more conservative regions of the United States.
The latter often have less mobile and less skilled workers, with a more limited influence on their employer.
"That's going to be a big part of why tech companies, for example, are going to react more strongly to this than other companies who would rather stay out of it," he said.
Unlike before, firms that have taken sides publicly have generally avoided backlash, calls for boycotts or smear campaigns.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio did introduce a bill Tuesday that would prevent companies from receiving tax breaks on expenses tied to covering abortion-related travel, but the bill is unlikely to pass.
However, "the groups that are interested in restricting abortion access, they're a minority. And they seem to be winning on this issue right now," said Schweitzer. "So I'm not surprised that they're being a little bit quiet."
J.V.Jacinto--PC