Companies Scramble to Keep Abortion Off Annual Meeting Agendas

Investors have rescinded over a dozen reproductive-health related proposals so far this year

A patient at a Planned Parenthood Clinic in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Photographer: Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images
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Abortion was all set to be a hot topic at this year’s annual shareholder meetings. Activist investors had filed an estimated 30 proxy proposals asking companies to clarify reproductive health-related policies in light of the drastically changed legal landscape in the US.

But going into the yearly gatherings, investors have so far rescinded about half of those, according to a tally by Rhia Ventures, a corporate advisory firm focused on reproductive health.