Last Friday, Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District of northern Texas issued a preliminary ruling invalidating the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, the drug used for more than half of all abortions in the U.S.
In a competing ruling, a federal district judge in Washington contradicted the order. While the abortion drug remains available, the stage is set for a Supreme Court review.
Until then, the legal firestorm promises to continue, making it challenging for employers to sort out their role in the conversation. But as Jen Stark, the Center for Business and Social Justice codirector, tells Fortune, silence is a choice. “The sidelines are not the middle ground anymore,” she says. She offers several suggestions for employers to consider, emphasizing the importance of communicating how company leaders will address future rulings and the potential impact on workers.
And since we're on the topic of communication, here's a still-relevant explainer from my colleague Phil Wahba on effectively talking to employees about the overturning of Roe—without screwing it up.
It's also important to remember that abortion is a racial justice issue.
"The states that are most likely to ban abortion have much greater proportions of people of color," Ushma Upadhyay, a public health social scientist at the University of California San Francisco, tells NPR. "We also know that about 60% of people obtaining abortions are people of color."
While that number varies state by state—in Mississippi, people of color make up 44% of the population but 81% of the people receiving abortions—limited access to abortion has become a costly burden. “Abortion restrictions are racist,” Cathy Torres, an organizing manager with Frontera Fund, a Texas organization that helps pay for abortions, tells PBS. “They directly impact people of color, Black, brown, Indigenous people…people who are trying to make ends meet.”
It's up to employers to ensure that workers, especially individuals of color, have the information at their fingertips to get the care they need. “Chaos and fear can make abortion care even less accessible,” Stark says.
Ellen McGirt
@ellmcgirt
Ellen.McGirt@fortune.com
This edition of raceAhead was edited by Ruth Umoh.
