The [F]law: “Reprowashing”: How Corporations Pretend to Support Abortion Rights

After Dobbs, dozens of well-known corporations promised to protect the abortion rights of their own employees, most commonly by offering to cover abortion-related travel under the company health insurance plan.  These statements and prospective policies make for good PR, but they gloss over the uncomfortable truth: corporations made Dobbs happen. This article explores how many of these corporations regularly donate enormous amounts of money to the same political forces that pass abortion bans in state legislatures and put anti-abortion judges in power.

Read Ellie Samuel‘s compelling article: “Retrowashing“

These statements and prospective policies make for good PR, but they gloss over the uncomfortable truth: corporations made Dobbs happen. Like Uber and Lyft, many of these corporations regularly donate enormous amounts of money to the same political forces (read: Republican politicians) that pass abortion bans in state legislatures and put anti-abortion judges in power.

Band-aid corporate solutions make a poor substitute for the fundamental rights Roe v. Wade once safeguarded. The companies who contribute to the stripping away of reproductive freedom shouldn’t be able to reprowash the impact of their actions.

AT&T and Pfizer were the only two companies that backed Republican politicians in all 13 states that implemented trigger laws. AT&T donated $1.2 million, more than any other company, and more than any anti-abortion advocacy organization.  

Chevron’s greenwashing and reprowashing go hand and hand.

Starbucks has a consistent record of implementing progressive, genuinely meaningful policies, right up until the moment their own anti-union corporate practices are at stake.

Although consumers can’t vote corporations out of office, there’s a lot customers can do to stop companies from reprowashing.

Related Systemic Justice Project Resources