Restaurants in the United States Respond to Roe V. Wade
As the United States grapples with the issue of abortion, restaurants across the country are responding to the Roe v. Wade decision. There are many opinions as to what businesses ought to do.
Introduction
The waitress who served you coffee yesterday feels unusually tired. She's been so exhausted the past few weeks that she can barely make it through her shifts. She may have called a clinic seeking an abortion, only to be told that her right to bodily autonomy has now been stripped away.
Courtesy the striking down of Roe v. Wade.
The 1973 decision that established abortion as constitutional right was overturned in 6-3 vote last week by the Supreme Court's conservative majority. The landmark piece of legislation established critical protections of an individual's reproductive rights. Not only in the United States, the ruling has served as the basis for the constitutional recognition of an individual's right to bodily autonomy, health care, and equality across the globe.
The effects of the unequivocal dismantling of this right will see 26 states outlaw or restrict access to abortions, leaving millions of American women and transgender men robbed of the most essential right over their bodies and vulnerable to criminal penalties.
The apex court's decision was met with horror and anger in equal measure and has drawn flak from various quarters. The seismic court ruling saw thousands taking the streets across the nation to express their anguish.
Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, was one of the first to criticize the ruling. The news coming out of the United States is horrific, he said in a statement. My heart goes out to the millions of women who are now set to lose their legal right to an abortion. I can't imagine the fear and anger you are feeling right now.
Former US President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron were some of the world leaders who condemned the decision. Today, the Supreme Court not only reversed nearly 50 years of precedent, it relegated the most intensely personal decision someone can make to the whims of politicians and ideologuesattacking the essential freedoms of millions of Americans, tweeted Obama.
In the wake of the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade, some food corporations have offered to provide financial assistance to employees seeking similar medical procedures across state lines. They have come forward to extend their support and offer health packages to employees seeking medical care that may not be permitted in their state. This small group of food businesses includes bigwigs such as Starbucks, DoorDash, Yelp, Impossible Foods and GrubHub.
