Over the past several years, prominent tech companies including Palantir and Tesla decided to leave their California headquarters. Some companies said the high cost of living and regulations prompted the moves; many of those tech HQs are now positioned in states where abortion could soon become illegal or heavily restricted.
If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, 13 states have so-called “trigger” laws that would immediately outlaw abortion. Fourteen other states have other restrictions on abortion. And while practically every tech company has a presence in those states in some way, a handful of tech companies, including Epic Games and Tesla, call those states home.
Some tech companies like Amazon, Lyft and Uber have taken their own steps to extend help to workers. But it’s unclear how most tech companies, especially those headquartered in affected states, would respond if Roe v. Wade was reversed. Regulations, culture, taxes and other factors all play a role in a company’s decision to set up shop. Abandoning a state entirely would make a huge political statement, but it’s too early to tell if that’s feasible or something companies are even considering at this point.
Protocol compiled a map of the tech companies that have established their headquarters in states where abortion could be banned or heavily restricted. We created it to better understand which companies would be affected the most if Roe v. Wade is overturned.
Some companies, like Amazon and Airbnb, were included in the map because they have regional headquarters in Tennessee and Georgia, although their main corporate offices are located in Washington state and California. Other massive tech companies like Microsoft and Meta aren’t on the map because they’re entirely headquartered in California. They still have a footprint in nearly everystate (Microsoft has a huge data center in Wyoming, for instance), so even if you don’t see them noted on the map, they will certainly be affected by any ruling.
If you see a company missing from this map, feel free to drop me a note at sroach@protocol.com.
