Abortion travel as a perk? Pro-lifers offer alternatives

When he heard about businesses offering to pay their employees’ abortion travel expenses following the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, legate Peter Rex devised a pro-life alternative.

His offer to employees of Texas-based Rex, which builds and invests in tech companies, was a $7,500 payment to those who chose adoption over abortion. The amount was higher than any offered by any company for abortion expenses ­— and, as Rex explained, “I had the idea of mimicking what [other companies] are doing but paying to save a life instead.”
 
The founder and CEO of the company that bears his name said with so many other businesses agreeing to pay for employees to travel to states where abortions are available, he could not let stand the impression that every entrepreneur supports abortion. “First of all,” Rex said, “it’s not true. There are ones who disagree, but they don’t want to lose business or employees or have investors turn on them.”
 
Still, the response by abortion advocates to the June 24 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization can easily leave anyone with pro-life views feeling outnumbered as governors invite women to have their abortions in states where the procedure remains available and businesses jump on the abortion bandwagon. This has occurred despite a report from Breitbart before the Dobbs decision that a major public-relations firm was advising its clients to stay silent on the abortion issue. According to an internal email obtained by Popular Information, the company suggested that taking a public stance on divisive issues can be “no-win,” alienating 15-to-30 percent of stakeholders.
 
Nonetheless, many companies have done just that. Two in Indiana – Cummins and Eli Lilly – have even suggested they could limit their future growth in the state because of a near-total abortion ban there.
 
Meanwhile, consumers and businesspeople seeking to buy products from or do business only with companies that do not support abortion can find it increasingly difficult to locate firms that are neutral on the issue, let alone pro-life. Major retailer Target, popular with many moms and young women as a place to buy school supplies and clothing, is funding out-of-state travel expenses for employees who choose abortion, a move that has led Concerned Women for America to start a “Toss Target” boycott.
 
Convenience Factor

In many cases, companies waving the abortion banner have a monopoly— as is true in the tech sector — or offer such a degree of convenience as to make it challenging to find a reasonable substitute. For instance, consumers whose only grocery option within 35 miles is a Kroger store may have little choice but to shop at the chain, which has agreed to cover abortion travel costs for its employees. On the other hand, those who simply enjoy the material benefits of shopping online via Amazon, which also is paying for abortion travel, could investigate less-expedient alternatives.
 
When no other option is readily available, Melanie Israel, policy analyst with the Heritage Foundation, suggests giving extra money to a local pregnancy resource center or buying canned goods for the local food pantry. “Everybody has a role to play in building a culture of life, and it doesn’t look the same for everyone,” said Israel.

Maggee Becker of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, which is in a state that is becoming a target for “abortion tourism” because of its wide access to abortion, acknowledged that seeking substitutes can feel burdensome and unrealistic. “But it is important for people to consider that each of our decisions affects not only ourselves, but those around us,” said Becker. “And in this case, our decisions can affect the lives of the unborn and their mothers.”
 
Becker said she thinks the pro-life side often is not willing to give up products and services they obtain from businesses that undermine their core values.
 
“We are all guilty of it,” she said. “It is hard, and you cannot simply cut yourself off from modern economic life. But there are many things we do not need that we will still patronize, particularly in the restaurant and entertainment industries.” 

Although she believes the pro-life movement should be one of evangelization with a goal of changing hearts and minds, “it is undoubtedly the case that money talks,” Becker said. “The possibility of economic consequences may not change a business or a city’s politics, but it may make them less vocal in support of abortion. That is a win. We have to be comfortable using these sorts of tactics when, considered prudently, they don’t undermine the cause of the gospel.”
 
Tell Companies What and Why

Jesuit Fr. Robert McTeigue, host of The Catholic Current radio show and podcast, concurred.
 
“The idea that you can maintain ritual purity in an interconnected world is going to lead to frustration,” said Fr. McTeigue, “but this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t ever have boycotts.” 

When canceling a subscription to abortion-supporting Netflix, for example, it’s important to tell the company what you’ve done and why. “Otherwise, they won’t know, and they won’t have that feedback point to say, ‘Maybe we need to rethink this,’” he pointed out.

Pro-life advocates also can seek alternatives through parallel economies, an idea advanced successfully by Andrew Torba, founder and CEO of the social media website Gab. For example, Fr. McTeigue said, “Rather than buying things with PayPal, you could use GabPay. Or rather than watching videos on YouTube, turn to some other platform. I don’t think we’re going to win over the powers and principalities by expressing indignation, but we can give pro-life people practical alternatives.”

Where options are lacking, notably in such areas as communication and tech, he said, pro-life people can start conversations about how they spend their time and money. “You want to foster a sense of community that there are people of like-minded values who can begin to act together, remind each other they’re not alone and help each other find alternatives,” Fr. McTeigue said.

Michael New, assistant professor of social research at Catholic University of America’s Busch School of Business, added that in instances when it is not possible to avoid companies supporting abortion directly or indirectly, “If you make a prudential decision and say this product makes life easier and there is no viable substitute . . . it can be morally responsible to continue purchasing it.”
 
When it comes to retail giants like Amazon, Fr. McTeigue suggested checking other sites such as eBay, BookFinder, or Alibris. “Is Amazon wildly convenient? It sure is. But does it offer things that are utterly indispensable that I can’t get anywhere else?”

‘No Substitute for Doing Your Homework’

Going elsewhere may mean paying a few dollars more for a product and it also may take time and effort, Fr. McTeigue said. But, he added, “There’s no substitute for doing your homework . . . Exercise your God-given intelligence and source what you’re looking for from places where you can do business without hesitation.”

Additionally, the Heritage Foundation’s Israel said she thinks it is important to ask companies that are going to great lengths to show support for the abortion industry whether they also are promoting family-friendly policies for their employees: “What are they doing on that side of things for employees who want to be parents?”

Rex, who suggested in a July 13 Newsweek column that companies should follow his lead and support adoption, said he believes there is a strong corporate case to be made against abortion. Although the standard corporate argument for abortion is that ending an unborn life is good for business because it eliminates the need for maternity leave and will make the employee more engaged at work, he said this ignores the connection between abortion and mental health problems, which could negatively affect an employee’s long-term productivity.
 
Furthermore, he said in an interview, “Taking a stand of integrity makes a more profitable company. It leads to the company promoting life and goodness.”

JUDY ROBERTS is a contributing writer for Legatus magazine.