How Amalgamated Bank prepared for the reversal of Roe v. Wade

– Waiting game. It’s Thursday morning on the East Coast, and in less than an hour, the Supreme Court is again scheduled to release a batch of decisions on the remaining cases on its docket this term. We don’t know whether a final decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization will be released this morning—the court is also scheduled to issue verdicts on Friday—but one thing is for certain: a decision will be here soon.

In the meantime, it might be helpful to hear from business leaders about how they’ve prepared for the likely end of Roe v. Wade. One such leader is Maura Keaney, first vice president for commercial banking at Amalgamated Bank. Despite the firm’s positioning in a conservative industry, it has long been a proponent of reproductive rights.

The bank’s connection to the issue dates back to 2009, when abortion provider George Tiller was killed by an anti-abortion extremist in Wichita, Kansas. A former associate of Tiller’s tried to reopen the abortion clinic, but community and regional banks would not offer her a line of credit, citing a lack of credit history and high risk. Amalgamated Bank, which calls itself “the bank for people who care what their money does in the world,” collateralized a line of credit using a certificate of deposit that one of her backers purchased. “She was able to get a line of credit, just like any other business would” to open the clinic called Trust Women, says Keaney.

With $57 billion in AUM, the 99-year-old institution is the largest B-corp certified bank in the U.S. So when abortion rights seemed to be in jeopardy in certain states, and now nationwide, it wasn’t the first time Amalgamated had navigated similar social issues. “This is a long path that Amalgamated has been walking,” Keaney says.

With policy changes in the works well before the Supreme Court leak in early May, the bank was able to quickly announce new benefits, including abortion-related travel reimbursement for employees and their dependents and the launch of a reproductive health care fund.

“As an employer, we think our policy is comprehensive,” says Keaney. “But as a socially responsible business, we are publicly speaking out in support of the right to choose. We believe that it’s a business issue, an employer issue, and a social responsibility issue. It’s incumbent on us to be vocal about that.”

The bank has spent the past several weeks engaging with other businesses and external partners, including Ben and Jerry’s and Patagonia.

With a Supreme Court decision expected imminently, Amalgamated’s actions can offer lessons to the many businesses that have yet to weigh in on the end of Roe. ”The urgency, the immediacy will certainly change,” Keaney says. In days, or even minutes, those companies may no longer have the option to stay silent.

Emma Hinchliffe
[email protected]
@_emmahinchliffe

The Broadsheet is Coins2Day’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Today’s edition was curated by Paige McGlauflin. Subscribe here.

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PARTING WORDS

"My career and my children are a product of my own hard work and choices, underpinned by a society and health care system that once understood the necessity of an individual’s right to choose their own destiny."

-New York Health Commissioner Mary T. Bassett on how her decision to have an abortion as a medical student allowed her to have the career and family she has today.