Lilly reacts to passage of abortion bill
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Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY) plans to look outside Indiana for future expansion projects as a result of the passage of Senate Bill 1, the company announced Saturday. Governor Eric Holcomb signed the bill into law Friday, making Indiana the first state to enact an abortion restriction law after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
The ban, which goes into effect September 15, prohibits abortions except in the cases of rape, incest, life or physical health of the mother, and some fatal fetal anomalies. Additionally, abortion procedures will only be allowed in hospitals or standalone ambulatory surgical centers owned by a hospital.
Lilly, which has been headquartered in Indiana for more than 145 years, said in its statement Saturday the new law will force the company to plan for more employment growth outside its home state.
“We are concerned that this law will hinder Lilly’s – and Indiana’s – ability to attract diverse scientific, engineering and business talent from around the world,” Lilly said in its statement Saturday. “While we have expanded our employee health plan coverage to include travel for reproductive services unavailable locally, that may not be enough for some current and potential employees.”
Lilly’s statement was its first public comment on the abortion legislation.
A spokesperson for Lilly tells our partners at the IBJ the company plans to honor its current expansion commitments in Indiana. That includes the $2.1 billion plan to build two manufacturing plants in the LEAP Lebanon Innovation and Research District site in Boone County.
Lilly is perhaps the largest company in Indiana to state its opposition to the bill. On Thursday, the Indy Chamber called on the Indiana General Assembly to pause its work on the bill.
“Over the last two weeks, the Indiana General Assembly has debated a substantial policy change on the issue of abortion in a compressed timeframe,” the statement read. “Such an expedited legislative process—rushing to advance state policy on broad, complex issues—is, at best, detrimental to Hoosiers, and at worst, reckless.”
Earlier in the week, Gen Con CEO David Hoppe announced the convention’s opposition to the bill. He said the convention, which drew 70,000 attendees to downtown Indianapolis before the pandemic and expects to draw about 65,000 this weekend, said passage of the bill would make it more difficult for Gen Con to remain in committed to Indy as its long-term annual home.
Eli Lilly and Co. is Indiana’s second largest public company by revenue and 13th largest employer, according to IBJ research. Nearly 11,000 of the company’s total 35,000 person workforce is based in Indiana.