Meta Banned Employees from Discussing Abortion at Work

Could you work at a place that prohibited you from talking about important topics? Well, Facebook’s parent company is ordering its employees to stop talking about abortion.

On Thursday, an executive at Meta Platforms informed employees that they are not allowed to talk about the contentious issue while working during office hours because it says there could be “an increased risk” that the company would be perceived as a “hostile work environment,” the Verge reported.

The policy was initially put in place three years ago but was recently reported. It bans employees from offering “opinions or debates about abortion being right or wrong, availability or rights of abortion, and political, religious, and humanitarian views on the topic,” the outlet added.

The tech news site cited language that comes from an internal note titled “Respectful Communication Policy,” which was sent out by the company in 2019 for the first time.

However, Meta employees reportedly want the company to get rid of the policy in light of the recent draft opinion coming from the Supreme Court that overturns Roe v. Wade.

Janelle Gale, Meta’s vice president of human resources, apparently told employees this week that abortion was “the most divisive and reported topic” on Workplace, which is Facebook’s internal communications and messaging platform.

Gale reportedly also said that “even if people are respectful, and they’re attempting to be respectful about their view on abortion, it can still leave people feeling like they’re being targeted based on their gender or religion.”

“It’s the one unique topic that kind of trips that line on a protected class pretty much in every instance.”

Meta executive, Naomi Gleit, wrote on the issue on Workplace, saying “At work, there are many sensitivities around this topic, which makes it difficult to discuss on Workplace” and that employees are 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.” 

Meta has not officially taken a stance on the Supreme Court draft opinion, but Mark Zuckerberg’s No. 2, Sheryl Sandberg, made a Facebook post saying abortion was “one of our most fundamental rights.”

“Every woman, no matter where she lives, must be free to choose whether and when she becomes a mother,” she added.

“Few things are more important to women’s health and equality.”

Gleit told employees that the company “will continue to offer our employees access to reproductive healthcare in the US regardless of where they live.”