Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Women Of Color Likely To Be Most Impacted By Overturning Of Roe; Yelp Will Cover Employees' Travel Costs For Abortion Access; Retailers Consider Paying You Not To Return Unwanted Items; Airlines Grappling With Summer Surge, Cancellations Taking Off; Doctors Say Impact Of Overturning Roe Will Go Beyond Abortions. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired June 27, 2022 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:30:02]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: In terms of raw demographics, the impact of Roe v. Wade being overturned will not be felt evenly across the country. Women of color will bear the brunt of this seismic shift partly because of lost work opportunities.
As CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich reports, many corporations are stepping up and pledging support to workers who would otherwise have no options.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Alana Edmondson unexpectedly got pregnant with her partner at 21, she had a choice to make. She was working a low-wage retail job in Seattle while dreaming of getting her PhD at Yale.
She made the tough decision to have an abortion.
ALANA EDMONDSON, SETTLE RESIDENT: I knew that I would be stuck in a cycle of poverty that I was trying to get out of.
YURKEVICH: The Supreme Court dismantled 50 years of precedent when it overturned Roe v. Wade, returning abortion laws to states. There will be significant economic repercussions.
Women denied abortion access who gave birth were more likely to experience increased poverty lasting at least four years, compared to women who received an abortion, according to the University of California, San Francisco.
EDMONDSON: It would just be very, very difficult, especially with, like, the prices of day care. I mean, even feeding somebody else.
YURKEVICH: Twenty-six states will likely ban abortions. Those states already have lower wages, barriers to health care, and less funding for social services, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
The impacts would be felt most by women of color. ASHA BANERJEE, ANALYST, ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE: When women are not
able to complete their education or get the job they want, this has severe economic consequences, yes, for them. But this loss of economic potential of possibility will have ramifications for the state economy, the national economy, as well.
(CHANTING)
YURKEVICH: The anti-abortion group, Right to Life, cites public assistance efforts in five of the 26 states likely to ban abortion aimed at helping pregnant women and new moms.
And now dozens of corporations are stepping in, providing protections for employees in those states.
MIRIAM WARREN, CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER, YELP: I think for any employer that cares about issues of diversity, equity and inclusion, to stay silent on such an issue is really just not -- not OK.
YURKEVICH: Yelp, which calls the SCOTUS decision a denial of human rights and a threat to workplace gender equality, said before the ruling it's covering travel and health care for employees, family members and partners seeking an abortion anywhere in the U.S.
(on camera): Do you think it's both an asset for retention of employees and then also an asset for attracting new employees to the company?
WARREN: I think it's both. It has really been a wonderful recruiting tool in terms of prospective employees, saying, I want to work at a company that is out there and loud about what they believe in and what they care about.
YURKEVICH (voice-over): Edmondson went on to realize her dream and move to Connecticut to get her PhD in literature at Yale. She says she feels lucky to have been able to make her own choice.
EDMONDSON: Thinking outside of myself, it felt very scary for other people who can get pregnant, who might not have the option to live their dream if they wanted it.
YURKEVICH: Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And in that piece, you just saw Yelp's chief diversity officer, Miriam Warren, and she's joining us right now live.
So good to see you.
Back in April, after the draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade leaked, Yelp announced that it would cover travel costs for its employees and the dependents if they need to go out of state to receive an abortion.
So what compelled your company to take such a stand so quickly on that issue? WARREN: Fredricka, this is something that we had been talking about
even as early as last year, recognizing that states like Texas and their restrictive abortion ban, known as S.B.-8 at the time, were -- these were not going to be limited just to Texas.
And so we really wanted to come out with a benefit that would be forward-looking and that would recognize that our employee base is remote and distributed across all 50 states.
And they all deserve to be able to get the health care that we want to provide for them. And it should not be contingent on which state they live in.
When we came out with this particular benefit, we worked with our insurance provider to ensure that, no matter where an employee lives, they will be able to access abortion care and other reproductive health care.
WHITFIELD: And when you say travel costs, what do you mean, in terms of gas, airfare, hotel? I mean, what? And is there a --
WARREN: Yes.
WHITFIELD: -- cap that you are also delivering to people, saying you can only pay for so much?
[13:35:03]
WARREN: At this stage, we are talking about things like gas, like airfare, like food and lodging. And, of course, this benefit extends to covered spouses and dependents.
And I think the important piece here is that, because this is going through our insurance provider, it does not mean that employees will have to contact anyone inside of Yelp.
And I think when you think about how important privacy is in this matter, and, frankly, in any other health care matter, I think that piece really stands out as an important part of this benefit.
WHITFIELD: So Texas lawmakers have already threatened Citi Group and Lyft with legal action if they go forward with similar plans. Are you worried this could expose the company to lawsuits, potential criminal liability?
WARREN: Certainly, when we were creating this benefit and we were talking about what it would mean to speak out not only on the benefit but on the importance of people in America being able to have the choice and their own bodily autonomy, we recognize there are risks.
And those are risks we're willing to take because safeguarding our employees to ensure that they are able to make the choices that they need in their health care and in their lives is of upmost importance for us.
WHITFIELD: So even though there are risks, you still believe it's good business.
What kind of impact overall do you think Yelp and other companies are making by speaking out in this manner?
WARREN: I think what you're seeing right now, Fredricka, is a number of companies, since the ruling came down on Friday, starting to talk about benefits similar to the travel benefit Yelp has extended.
I think you're also seeing more companies come out and talk about how important this is, because it affects so many people in their work forces.
But unfortunately, I think there aren't enough companies standing up and talking about this issue.
The majority of Americans think that abortion should be safe and legal.
And I think it's important for us to also know that the majority of people who have abortions in America are already parents. And 62 percent of them consider themselves to be people of faith. This is the majority of America.
We believe that it is important not only to safeguard your employees but also to speak out on this issue.
In fact, we are receiving numerous outreaches from our employees, from prospective employees, and also from folks at other companies thanking us for being vocal on this issue.
And we've also seen our CEO come out to call on other companies to be vocal on this issue, which, frankly, affects so many people.
And the time for companies, who care about issues of diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging, to speak on this very important issue is now.
WHITFIELD: Miriam Warren, we'll leave it there for now, of Yelp. Thank you so much.
WARREN: Thanks for having me, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. If you're flying for the upcoming holiday weekend, you might want to keep those expectations rather low. Hundreds of flights cancelled over the weekend. What does that mean for July 4th travelers?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:43:04]
WHITFIELD: Perhaps this has happened to you. Maybe it just didn't fit correctly, maybe the color was wrong, so you want to return it. Guess what? Now some retailers are considering giving refunds without actually getting back the actual merchandise, essentially paying you to keep the unwanted item. CNN business correspondent, Rahel Solomon, is here with details.
So this is amazing. It's almost like an extra bonus.
RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This is different.
WHITFIELD: It is very different. Why is this happening?
SOLOMON: And we should say they're considering it. We don't know yet if they're actually doing it.
But why it's happening is because retailers have been warning for weeks that they have too much stuff. So they are trying to clear the shelves to make space for things that we actually want to buy.
I want to show you some of the companies in recent weeks have said they have too much excess inventories, companies like Target, Walmart, Gap, American Eagle.
