Meta has asked its employees to refrain from discussing abortion at work. According to a report in The Verge, a Meta executive on Thursday told employees they are banned from discussing abortion on Workplace, the company’s internal communication platform, citing an “increased risk” of being seen as a “hostile work environment.”
A section of the company’s internal “Respectful Communication Policy” prohibits employees from discussing “opinions or debates about abortion being right or wrong, availability or rights of abortion, and political, religious, and humanitarian views on the topic.”
The policy has been in place since 2019 but was only reported until recently, when the debate around abortions was renewed after a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion revealed that the US judiciary has voted to strike down Roe v Wade – the landmark ruling of 1973 which legalised abortion in the United States.
During a town hall meeting on Thursday, Meta Vice President of HR, Janelle Gale, said that abortion was “the most divisive and reported topic” by employees on Workplace. She said abortion was a topic which could “leave people feeling like they’re being targeted based on their gender or religion” even if others are attempting to be respectful.
Earlier this month, news outlet Politico published a draft opinion that suggested the conservative-dominated Supreme Court was poised to shred nearly 50 years of constitutional protections by striking down the nationwide right to abortion in the United States.
Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer at Meta, had defended the right to abortion shortly after the leaked draft. “If the leaked draft opinion becomes the law of the land, one of our most fundamental rights will be taken away,” she had written on Facebook at the time. “Every woman, no matter where she lives, must be free to choose whether and when she becomes a mother.”
A section of Meta employees have called on the company to do away with prohibitions around discussing abortions at work, but Sandberg’s post seems to have only increased the organization’s pushback against abortion discussions.
The day after Sandberg shared her views on social media, Naomi Gleit, a senior Meta employee, explained why discussions around the divisive topic are prohibited at work.
“At work, there are many sensitivities around this topic, which makes it difficult to discuss on Workplace,” Gleit wrote in an internal piece seen by The Verge. She said employees were only allowed to discuss abortion at work “with a trusted colleague in a private setting (e.g. live, chat, etc.)” and in a “listening session with a small group of up to 5 like-minded people to show solidarity.”
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