Dear John,
As we continue to reckon with the fallout of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization which overturned Roe v. Wade, the true scope of its threats to our civil liberties are becoming clearer and clearer. This week, VICE obtained documents which show that Facebook turned over private chats between a 17-year-old Nebraskan girl and her mother, in which they discussed the teen’s abortion. Police then used the chats as evidence to seize her phone and computer. Both have now been charged with several felonies and misdemeanors, with the daughter being tried as an adult.
While the two are being charged for violating a restrictive abortion law that was already in place prior to the June 24 Dobbs ruling, abortion advocates are pointing to the case as an example of what will become all the more common. As legal systems struggle to keep up with the ever-growing patchwork of state laws and regulations that govern abortion rights in the U.S., and as abortion seekers are increasingly forced to cross state lines in search of medical care, it’s more important than ever to protect our digital privacy—because such data can and will be used by zealous prosecutors.
As Ms. recently reported, President Biden has issued two executive orders now, along with guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services, calling for strengthening of digital privacy rights. Privacy experts suggest turning off location tracking settings, using encrypted chatting apps, and using privacy-driven period tracking apps. (To learn more about how to safeguard your digital information in the event of an abortion, check out these resources from the Digital Defense Fund.)
At the state level, a handful of corporations are beginning to warn about the economic consequences of the most restrictive abortion bans. In Indiana, after the governor signed a bill banning nearly all abortions last week, Eli Lilly, which has been headquartered in Indianapolis for 145 years and employs more than 10,000 people, said in a statement “… we will be forced to plan for more employment growth outside our home state,” and admitted its offer to cover travel costs for employees seeking reproductive services out of state “may not be enough for some current and potential employees.”
In the latest issue of Ms., we explore just how bad for business abortion bans are. Surveys by Morning Consult and Tara Health Foundation found that by a 2-to-1 margin, “… employed adults said they’d prefer to live in a state where abortion is legal and accessible.” A separate study found that 56 percent of college-educated women “would not apply to a job in a state that has recently banned abortion,” and research by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research estimates that abortion bans will cost state economies $105 billion per year. What’s more, we’re starting to see reports that colleges and universities are hearing from students who are refusing to attend school in states where abortion is banned.
We at Ms. suggest that as the abortion restrictions increasingly take their toll, perhaps university presidents should join with corporate executives and sit down face-to-face with the extremist Republican lawmakers and governors imposing these bans to discuss just how quickly the punitive and dangerous bans can be repealed. Failing that, perhaps the executives should announce their intentions to relocate their operations and ask for refunds of their millions in political donations to the very extremist lawmakers that have threatened their ability to conduct business!
If you want to learn more, we urge you to get the latest issue of Ms. to read our investigative report.
