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Good morning, Broadsheet readers! The Theranos trial has a jury, Liz Cheney will be vice chair of the Jan. 6 commission, and just a few companies take a stand on abortion rights. Have a good weekend.
– Match point. Yesterday, Kristen asked whether businesses would speak out on the new Texas law that bans abortions after six weeks and empowers private citizens to sue any person who “aids and abets” a woman seeking the procedure later in pregnancy. Immediately after the law took effect, private companies were painfully silent on the new measure that strips women of their reproductive rights, even in this age of CEO activism and purpose-driven leadership.
Since yesterday’s Broadsheet, a few employers have piped up on the issue that divides Americans like few others.
Bumble, the dating app business based in Austin and led by CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd, said on Instagram that it’s creating a “relief fund” for people seeking abortions in Texas under what the company called a “regressive law.”
Another Texas-based dating app company, Match, responded in a similar way but was more outspoken on the matter. The company’s CEO, Shar Dubey, is creating a relief fund for Texas employees and dependents who are “impacted by this legislation and need to seek care outside of Texas.”
Dubey, who became chief executive of the Tinder and OkCupid parent last year, acknowledged in a memo to employees that topics like abortion are touchy; the company usually stays out of politics “unless it is relevant to our business,” she said. But Dubey made an exemption for the law, called SB 8, and went public with her personal views because the measure is so harmful to “the cause of women’s rights.”
She said she “immigrated to America from India over 25 years ago and I have to say, as a Texas resident, I am shocked that I now live in a state where women’s reproductive laws are more regressive than most of the world, including India.”
For a story published yesterday, Emma asked roughly a dozen companies with big employee bases in Texas—including those like Tesla, Oracle, and HPE that recently expanded in the Lone Star State—about the law. Most didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Corporate silence on the issue is “shameful,” says Shelley Alpern, director of shareholder advocacy for Rhia Ventures who has worked to encourage companies to support reproductive rights.
But just because many companies haven’t taken a stand on the matter doesn’t mean they won’t. Alpern told Emma that employee pressure is what’s caused corporations to oppose measures like transgender ‘bathroom bills’ in the past. So for employers to speak up against the Texas abortion law, workers may have to do so first.
Claire Zillman
[email protected]
@clairezillman
The Broadsheet, Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women, is coauthored by Kristen Bellstrom, Emma Hinchliffe, and Claire Zillman. Today’s edition was curated by Emma Hinchliffe.
A note from Fortune The new rules of corporate leadership Subscribe to The Modern Board, our brand new newsletter on what you need to know to lead through today's biggest challenges. Sign up now. ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Lifetime in office. As German Chancellor Angela Merkel prepares to leave office, it's a watershed moment for one group in the country: young people. Many don't remember Germany under another leader besides Merkel, after her 16 years in power. "As long as I can remember," says one teen, "she's always been there." Financial Times
- Jury duty. Attorneys have selected a jury of seven men and five women for the fraud trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. Opening statements are scheduled to begin next week. CNBC
- Family affair. Sequential Brands Group, the parent company to brands including the Jessica Simpson brand, filed for bankruptcy this week. Now Jessica Simpson's family is buying the singer and entrepreneur's name and brand out of bankruptcy for $65 million. Bloomberg
- The chair. GOP Rep. Liz Cheney will be the vice chair of the House committee on the Jan. 6 insurrection. It's a rare bipartisan appointment and puts Cheney in an even more prominent position speaking out against her own party. CNN
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Archewell, the organization founded by Meghan and Harry, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, hired "I am a voter" founder Mandana Dayani as its first COO. Megan Myungwon Lee will become chair and CEO of Panasonic Corporation of North America. At ServiceMax, T-Mobile chief customer experience officer Callie Field and Felicia Alvaro are joining the board of directors; Sophie Ames of Veritas Technologies joins as CHRO.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
- Happily ever after. Japan's Princess Mako is planning to marry her boyfriend by the end of the year. There's a controversy around money the mother of her fiancé allegedly borrowed, and amid the debate the princess will turn down a $1.3 million sum usually given to women who depart the Japanese royal family upon marriage. The couple is planning to move to the U.S. South China Morning Post
- Shaping up. Kim Kardashian's Skims brand has grown popular for what customers say is excellent shapewear. But some of those same customers are conflicted about the Kardashians' role in American culture—and, as a result, about their own Skims habit. The Cut
- Face for change. Poet Amanda Gorman has a new contract as "global changemaker" for Estée Lauder. The deal makes her a spokeswoman and ambassador for the brand—but also a force behind "Writing Change," an Estée Lauder initiative awarding $3 million in grants to promote literacy for women and girls. New York Times
ON MY RADAR
Paid family and medical leave is a civil right Fortune
The conservative justices' reasoning in the Texas abortion case is legal mansplaining Slate
I never thought arthritis would derail my career. Here's what I wish I'd known Elle
PARTING WORDS
"I do not wing it. I never wing it."
-Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on how she got where she is today
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