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Women In
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Hello, and welcome back.
If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling recognizing abortion rights for women, it has the potential to transform the reproductive lives of women in much of the country, with nearly half of U.S. states poised to ban abortions.
It could also spark a new front in the debate over what support employers provide for workers, especially women, writes the Journal’s Mengqi Sun. In the nearly five decades since Roe, reproductive health has become a workplace issue as more women have entered the workforce. Witness the move toward coverage for contraception in employer health plans, or the increase in time granted for maternity leave.
Even before Monday’s leak of a draft opinion suggested that the Supreme Court was poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, several companies, from Amazon.com Inc. to Yelp Inc., had announced that they would cover travel expenses for employees seeking abortions as more states enact restrictive laws.
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Protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday, after a leaked draft opinion indicated the justices might be preparing to overturn Roe v. Wade. PHOTO: ERIC LEE FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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It is essential for companies that value talent and see gender equity as a core principle to support women’s reproductive health, said Jonas Kron, chief advocacy officer of Trillium Asset Management LLC, a firm focused on socially responsible investing.
The question is whether expanded coverage for reproductive health that includes access to abortion is viewed as an employee benefit, or social activism. At many companies, vocal employees have in recent years pushed bosses to take public stands on social and political issues. But the fallout from the clash between Walt Disney Co. and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over the state’s Parental Rights in Education bill has alarmed corporate leaders.
“People want solutions but the debate has become oversimplified and pushed to … ‘You’re with me or against me,’ said Coca-Cola Co. Chief Executive James Quincey, speaking this week at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit. Businesses, he added, “are being sucked into that process.”
While the next chapters in this saga have yet to unfold, one plot point is emerging: The choice for business leaders is no longer whether to address political issues, but how.
–Lora
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Join our new WSJ Women LinkedIn group, where you’ll have the opportunity to meet and network with peers, exchange advice and read the latest news on women in the workplace.
The group is open to all. You can join here.
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GRINER DETENTION: The State Department has determined that Brittney Griner is being wrongfully detained in Russia on drug charges. The declaration raised hopes that a deal may be possible for the release of the women’s basketball star, who has been in jail since she was detained at a Moscow airport in February.
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WFH House: Even a couple who bought their house with remote work in mind found it wasn’t suited to full-time working from home once the pandemic hit. So they set out to transform it, turning their master bedroom’s walk-in-closet into an office; enclosing their open loft; putting electrical outlets in the front yard for outdoor work, and creating laptop-charging stations throughout their home.
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MULTITASKING: You know that productivity rush you get when responding to Slack messages from colleagues, emailing your child’s teacher and placing an Amazon order—all while on a Zoom? As it turns out, media multitasking is making us less productive, not more. Toggling between devices and apps slows our ability to process and retain information, decreases our ability to filter out extraneous information, shortens our attention span and causes us to make mistakes, neuroscientists say.
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TRUE PARTNERS: You’re supposed to choose a business partner just like you choose a spouse–so, why not choose your spouse? It is a choice that plenty of entrepreneurs have made with success. But a business can be all-consuming, and when both spouses are involved, it is tough to find room for ordinary life or personal space. Couples who go into business together have to be careful not to lose themselves in the startup, or the relationship can suffer along with the business.
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STRESS MANAGEMENT: Chronic, low-level daily stress is the true death of us (both figuratively and literally), and at work, there is a lot of it. The good news is, many of these low-level stressors are under our control. To move the needle on well-being at work, we need to make several small changes, incorporated into our daily lives, and practiced with the same vigor that well-being aficionados put into their gym routines.
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How do you approach empty-nesting? For many Americans, it’s with the mindset that the time between children leaving and health or other issues arising is all too short, reports the Journal’s Andrea Peterson.
But for WSJ reader Kathleen Kiernan, this “carpe diem” attitude toward empty-nesting creates a false dichotomy between having a family and living one’s life. “I cannot understand ‘waiting’ for life to occur after this milestone or that,” Mrs. Kiernan said. “It never occurred to us that our life was going to shut down [after having a child.]”
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Kathleen Kiernan with her son, Dan, and husband, Rich. Credit: Kathleen Kiernan
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Mrs. Kiernan and her husband worked hard to stay involved in their community after their son was born, often bringing him with them to events from parties to volunteering. “We didn’t belittle his participation, but we didn’t elevate it to the point that it changed the course of the life that we had determined,” Mrs. Kiernan said.
The couple also went out of their way to carve out time alone. Support wasn’t always easy to come by; the couple had almost no family in the area and limited means, so leaving took extra planning. But, “sometimes you have to pick your hard,” Mrs. Kiernan said. Part of that was recognizing she couldn’t be 100% employee, mother and wife all at the same time.
“My husband and I were always of the mindset that we [would continue] to grow as individuals while parenting our son,” she said. “I believe it helped all of us.”
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MAINTAINING ANNA: Much of Anna Wintour’s status as an object of fascination lies in her longevity—she has, after all, been Vogue’s top editor since 1988. “It’s one thing to get to the top and it’s quite another to stay there,” says Amy Odell, author of a newly released biography.
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JUST SAY NO: It’s harder than it sounds, especially when it comes to turning down the people we care about most. And after two years of pandemic life—with very few invites to decline—we may be even rustier than usual at delivering the bad news. Yet if we want to rebuild lives that are more balanced and meaningful, we need to prioritize. Declining requests is crucial.
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With college graduations upon us, The Wall Street Journal wants to hear from you. Graduating seniors, what is your No. 1 question or concern about life after school? It can be related to personal finance, social life, career or anything in between. For those who have already passed this milestone (recently or not), we want to hear your best piece of advice for soon-to-be graduates. Write to us at voices@wsj.com for a chance to be featured in a WSJ+ article.
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