Alphabet activists say temporary workers and contractors should also get abortion-related health benefits
Alphabet activists say temporary workers and contractors should also get abortion-related health benefits
more than 650 employees Google’s owner Alphabet Inc. are demanding that it provide abortion benefits to contractors, suspend donations to anti-abortion politicians, and better protect users from abortion-related propaganda and police requests.
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The demands were sent this week in a petition to officials seen by Reuters. They reflect or likely raise concerns across the United States since the Supreme Court ruling in June. New restrictions on abortion and reproductive care In more than half of the 50 states.
Google declined to comment on the petition, which was organized by the Alphabet workers’ union group.
Many companies, including Google, have established policies to assist employees seeking abortions. Alphabet workers said temporary workers and contractors should also receive those benefits, such as reimbursement for travel to states where the process is legal.
Alejandra Beatty, technical program manager for Alphabet healthcare subsidiary Verily and co-head of the petition, estimated that thousands of workers live in states that prohibit abortions.
Alphabet, which employs more than 174,000 people globally, has said that although it sets some standards, it cannot completely set outside vendors’ policies.
Furthermore, the petition states that Alphabet should not direct political contributions to groups and candidates campaigning to restrict access to abortion. It has stopped giving at least once before. In 2021, following the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, Google said it would withhold donations to Republicans, who voted against certifying that Joe Biden won the election.
The petitioners write that user searches related to abortion on Google “should never be saved, handed over to law enforcement, or treated as a crime.”
Google has said it will continue to fight police requests for user information, which it considers excessive.
Activists also echoed the demands of abortion advocates, who have said for years that Google should remove search results for crisis pregnancy centers that attempt to prevent people from having abortions. Google has said that it removes the reported misleading results.
Ms Beatty said Alphabet should consider protecting reproductive rights an existential battle, like it did COVID-19, and set up a task force to monitor product changes.
“We are looking for a comprehensive response,” she said.