The sweeping ban on abortions just passed by the Christofascist Republicans in Indiana is rightfully getting blowback from the business community:
Indiana’s
new sweeping ban on abortion produced immediate political and economic
fallout Saturday, as some of the state’s biggest employers objected to
the restrictions, Democratic leaders strategized ways to amend or repeal
the law, and abortion rights activists made plans to arrange
alternative locations for women seeking procedures.
The Indiana law, which the Republican-controlled state legislature passed late Friday night and Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) signed moments later, was the first state ban passed since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in June and was celebrated as a major victory by abortion foes. [snip]
The Indiana ban, which goes into effect Sept. 15, allows abortion only
in cases of rape, incest, lethal fetal abnormality, or when the
procedure is necessary to prevent severe health risks or death. Indiana
joins nine other states that have abortion bans starting at conception. [snip]
After the legislation was signed into law, Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical
giant and one of the state’s largest employers, warned that such laws
would hurt its employee recruiting efforts and said the company would
look elsewhere for its expansion plans. [snip]
Salesforce, the tech giant with 2,300 employees in Indiana, had previously offered to
relocate employees in states with abortion restrictions, though it
didn’t respond on Saturday to a request for comment on the Indiana law.
The
Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce also warned the ban was passed too
quickly and without regard for how it will affect the state’s tourism
industry.
Living in a hermetic bubble, as do the misogynist zealots of the right, can cause laws like the one in Indiana to pass, even as they suffer an unexpected, shocking defeat in equally red Kansas. They don't fear consequences because consequences haven't been visited upon them so far. But,
In Washington, Republican leaders have been largely silent on Republican-led states’ push to ban abortion. Polls consistently show that near-total abortion bans like the one in Indiana are unpopular with the general public. [snip]
Another
political strategist, Jonathan Levy, who worked on the Kansans For
Constitutional Freedom Campaign, which is opposed to limiting abortion
rights, said the Kansas vote showed that extreme antiabortion positions
are “going to be rejected by Americans across the political spectrum.
The American people want legislators to focus on how to keep food on the
table, keep the economy afloat. They think the legislature’s priorities
are out of whack,” he said.
What happened in Kansas may or may not happen at the ballot box in Indiana and other states that are enacting draconian anti- choice legislation. But, freedom from repressive government (and church- supported) interference in the most personal decisions made by Americans must become a decisive issue in coming elections, and it's one worth fighting all the way for as long as it takes.
