The Handmaid’s Tale
From our friend and colleague, Richard Levick at Levick.com…
We are an over-polled society, a fact which subsequently influences politicians to prefer to follow rather than lead. Yet, how is it possible that up until U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s draft in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization leaked, only 20% of Americans thought Roe v. Wade was in danger of being overturned? It is like looking at a Monopoly game board and not recognizing that it is a square.
It is time for companies to think deeply about their positions on reproductive rights, health care as a political issue, same sex marriage and related matters. History sometimes moves backwards—one court watcher referred to the leaked opinion as being akin to overturning Brown v. Board of Education with Plessy v. Ferguson—and it is going to be ever more difficult for companies to stand on the sidelines.
While few companies have yet to see this as “a business imperative,” as Levi Strauss uniquely argued immediately after the leak, they will soon. Taking sides on the most problematic issues of the day may not be advisable, but it may also be unavoidable. Companies should be using their peacetime wisely to plan and determine what and when to implement. Ten recommendations follow to help start the process:
Understand these times: For the foreseeable future—likely at least for a generation—understand that the Court will not be shy about overturning long-held norms nor concerned about winning popularity contests (historically this has often been a virtue). Surrounding yourself with decision makers who habitually look backwards is not going to be helpful in making critical decisions during these unprecedented times. You may choose to say and do nothing on choice, birth control, same sex marriage, etc., but do so out of a careful, multidisciplined analysis, not because “it is the way we have always done things here.” For the rest, click here.