Several major US companies, including The Walt Disney Co and Meta Platforms, announced on Friday that they would cover the costs of their employees wishing to have an abortion.
The largest law firms in the US did not take a public position after the decision of the Supreme Court on Friday, which overturned the historic decision of Roe v Wade to legalize the right to abortion. Thus, they differentiated their approach from the attitude of some large companies that issued announcements about the reported decision that attracts the interest of American public opinion.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling (Dobbs, by a vote of 6 to 3) upheld a Republican-backed Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks’ gestation.
Several states are expected to further restrict or ban abortions after this decision.
Reuters on Friday asked more than 30 law firms in the United States, including the top 20, based on the total number of lawyers employed, for their comments on the US Supreme Court ruling and whether they would be covered. travel expenses for their employees, who would like to have an abortion.
The vast majority of offices had not responded by Saturday afternoon, but only two (Ropes & Gray and Morrison & Foerster) said they would pursue such a travel policy for the convenience of their employees.
Law firm Morrison & Foerster, which employs about 1,000 lawyers, was the only one to issue a statement Saturday afternoon.
The company’s president, Lauren Naselsky, said Morrison & Foerster would “redouble its efforts to protect abortion and other reproductive rights.”
Dobbs’ decision was expected, as a draft legal opinion was leaked in May.
Several major US companies, including The Walt Disney Co and Meta Platforms, announced on Friday that they would cover the costs of their employees wishing to have an abortion.
U.S. legal experts say law firms will have a say in Dobbs’ decision in the future if its employees and clients push the firms into public office. For the time being, the management of law firms is carefully considering the pros and cons of public placements, including the possibility of causing dissatisfaction among their clients, according to the same views of experts in the field.
“Law firms acrobatic on a tightrope,” said Kent Zimmermann, a law firm consultant with the Zeughauser Group. “There is a variety of views between lawyers and their clients,” Zimmermann said.
Some companies have issued internal instructions to their employees regarding the decision. Julie Jones, president of law firm Ropes & Gray, said in an internal statement read by Reuters that the company would hold several social gatherings to discuss the decision and offer “consolation” to those in need.
“As the leader of Ropes & Gray, I’m concerned about the impact of this decision on our community,” Jones wrote, acknowledging that her note was likely to “provoke some sections of our community.”
A Ropes & Gray spokesman said Friday that employees who are part of the company’s medical plan can receive financial assistance to travel outside the state for an abortion.
Despite the small number of public announcements, a number of law firms hinted publicly, before the reversal of the Roe v Wade decision, that they would offer legal support to women who wanted to have an abortion.
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