Values and Reproductive Justice
Both as an organization and as eleven individual women, Quarter Horse was outraged by the Supreme Court’s apparent intention to overturn Roe v. Wade. Should the decision proceed as currently drafted, it would endanger millions of lives; more broadly, the opinion signals a dehumanizing lack of respect for the autonomy and personhood of half the population, and disregards the opinion of the majority of those living in this country.
In addition to supporting one another through processing the news and its implications, we’ve been discussing how we should advise our clients in their potential responses. As a public relations and strategy firm, there are times when we tell our clients to say nothing—when there isn’t enough information about a situation, when their voice doesn’t add anything meaningful to an issue, when security is a concern, and so on.
In recent days, we've seen some in our industry urging their clients to say nothing now. We disagree.
The “say nothing” advice is based on the idea that abortion access and reproductive justice constitute a divisive issue (although the majority of Americans support upholding Roe v. Wade, according to decades of polling), and that taking a stand on an issue considered political could be bad for business (research shows that both consumers and employees are drawn to purpose-led and values-based organizations). Whether because it was viewed as settled, as “just a women’s issue,” or as simply too toxic, many ostensibly progressive companies have remained silent on the subject of abortion rights.
Taking a stand is vital, and the consequences of not doing so will be dire on an economic and humanitarian level. This issue concerns us all, and we at Quarter Horse urge everyone to do all they can to protect the human right to effective healthcare that allows people to choose.
We applaud those companies that have voiced their support for upholding Roe v. Wade. We are especially heartened by those like Yelp, Box, and Levi’s, among others, that have gone beyond making a statement and taken steps like making donations and amending HR policies to support employees in need of abortions. This shouldn’t be something we consider brave, this should be what we expect from organizations that care about human rights.
Taking a stand can mean many things: making a public statement using your platform, sharing resources with others looking to join in the fight, donating to organizations working to uphold these rights, participating in mutual aid, protesting, and being involved however you can.
As a public relations and strategy firm, there are times when we tell our clients to say nothing. This isn’t one of them. We’ve included a list of resources below to learn more about the topic—save them, share them.
Resources
Image Credit: Tara Jacoby