Salesforce (CRM) announced that it will assist its employees and their families if they want to leave Texas after the state passed the nation’s mostrestrictive abortion law.In a Slack (WORK) message obtained by CNBC, the cloud computing company told its 56,000employees that they “stand with all of our women at Salesforce and everywhere.”
“With that being said, if you have concerns about access to reproductive healthcare in your state, Salesforce will help relocate you and members of your immediate family,” the Slack message said.
Salesforce took no position on Senate Bill 8 in the statement. The company has 16 locations in the US, including one in Dallas.
The Texas law, which prohibits abortion providers from conducting abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, essentiallybans the procedure as early as six weeks intoapregnancy. (Under current federal law, the procedure is legal but many states have restrictions such as waiting periods or a ban after a woman has been pregnant for 20 weeks.) The law took effect on September 1 after the Supreme Court and federal appeals court declined to rule on attempts to block. It effectively outlaws at least 85% of abortions sought in the state, according to opponents.
It also punishes anyone, not just medical providers, who “aids or abets” a restricted abortion. That would include healthcare providers, family and friends, or anyone who transports a person to or from an abortion clinic. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Texas over the abortion law Thursday. On Friday night, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff tweeted, “Ohana if you want to move we’ll help you exit TX.
Your choice.”Benioff and Salesforce have long championed social causes and corporate responsibility. The company Salesforce acquired Slack in Decemberfor more than $27 billion. Shares have since risen more than 6%.
“Business is the best platform for change. My role is to help CEOs see they can change,” Benioff said in an interview with CNN Business in December. This is not the company’s first time criticizing a controversial state law. Salesforce was an early corporate voice against sweeping election bills in Georgia, which critics said was clear voter suppression. Atlanta is home to Salesforce Towers, the company’s regional headquarters, which has 1,300 employees.
“A person’s right to cast their ballot is the foundation of our democracy,” Salesforce tweeted in March after Georgia’s House of Representatives passed a bill that called for voter ID, less time to request absentee ballots, sharply limited access to early voting and even clarified that no one can offer water to voters waiting in line. “Georgia H.B. 531 would limit trustworthy, safe & equal access to voting by restricting early voting & eliminating provisional ballots. That’s why Salesforce opposes H.B. 531 as it stands,” the company said.
While corporate America has taken public stances on last summer’s racial justice protests and the restrictive voting laws filed or enacted in different states, corporate America has largely stayed silent on the Texas abortion law. Exceptions include privately held Bumble and the Match Group (MTCH) CEO which both announced last week they were creating relief funds for people affected by the Texas abortion law.”Bumble is women-founded and women-led, and from day one we’ve stood up for the most vulnerable. We’ll keep fighting against regressive laws like #SB8,” the company said on Twitter.
And Lyft (LYFT) CEO Logan Green tweeted that his company created a legal defense fund to cover legal fees forany of its drivers who are sued under SB8. Uber (UBER) then followed. The law’s broad wording could make drivers liable for helping someone receive a restricted abortion by transporting them, even unknowingly.
No major company has announced it is leaving Texas. Big Texas-based corporations such as Hewlett Packard (HPQ) in Houston publicly came out against the state’s restrictive new voting law, which went into September 7.Other cities are capitalizing on the state’s controversial new laws.
The city of Chicago will run a full-page ad in Sunday’s edition of The Dallas Morning News listing reasons why the Windy City is “a great place for business.” That ad references voting, abortion and Covid-19, all major political issues in Texas.
—
Original Article: https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/11/business/salesforce-texas-abortion-law/index.html
This law is not supported in any way by the majority of US citizens or the majority of Texas residents in any way. Now what stops any person who wants an abortion to go to any other state where abortion is legal or Mexico, Canada or even Europe, for a vacation.
Just a very small minority of persons wanting to control a majority because of religious beliefs, contrary to what the Constitution says, that no law shall be made based on ANY religion, mainly because if you support a religion you are saying it is the religion of this USA which the Constitution says that there will be no State Religion supported in this USA.
Abortion is outdated birth control. Women have many birth control options and young people have the right to ask and receive birth control without parental consent. Liberals can leave Texas.
I think it’s great that Democrats will leave the great states of Texas and Georgia for their unfounded reasons. Let them go to Chicago or some other Dem ran city where murder is rampant if they think saving babies and cutting out illegal voting is so terrible.
Amen!
I agree. It is getting so ridiculous that these corporations are getting into these political issues. Like main stream media and entertainers, they need to stay out of politics, period.
Please remember that corporations are humans and have the same several according to the Republicans of several previous administations. You cannot pick and choose when that is true and when it is not.
I totally agree. Thanks for saying what I was going to say anyway. B.
Since you won’t post my comments please tell me how to Unsubscribe from your site.
Thank you for wanting to get your employees out of Texas. We do not approve of murdering babies.
Good riddance! Go elsewhere if you simply must murder your innocent, helpless, unborn child.
Excellent and we’re going to leave the immoral disgusting city and state of Chico, Illinois given it’s run by democrats who have no integrity, morals, or decency. Crime is allowed along with anything and everything accepted. What a sick society we have.
You clearly can see this isn’t a city and state run by followers of God!
Time to find another CRM , that should be easy. sales force is overpriced and has poor support. Move the baby killers to NY where they like killing anyone.
This is WONDERFUL!!
The Lord God will bless and prosper Texas now! May His Name be praised forever!!!
Abortion is murder, in my humble opinion. I can’t condemn anyone for having one, it’s not my place to do that, but is Gods. I believe life begins at conception. If you can’t pay the piper, don’t play the game. There are so many birth control methods out there. The best one is abstinence.
13 year old girl who has been raped and impregnated by a family member or a stepfather must carry and birth a child of incestuous origin or of a violent act? Ultimate cruelty and control of someone else’s precious life. It really is none of your business unless you agree to adopt the child, provide them with a very good life, and every opportunity to succeed in this world.
What if I do not share your belief that life begins at contraception? Why do I have to live under your rules instead of my beliefs? Abstinence does not work in the case of rape/incest yet these are the most negatiive and grievous acts that can be perpetrated upon a woman. And they can only be done by a man.
So people would move because of this law? Exactly how many abortions are you planning on having? People would actually base where they live based on abortion laws? I guess I am a responsible adult and I don’t use abortion as birth control. Those who bring up incest or rape need to read up of all the abortions preformed that makes up a very small percentage so we are left with just those who can’t be bothered to use birth control.