While many companies have opted for a full-throated embrace of abortion advocacy in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, with many going so far as to pay for employee abortions or abortion-related travel expenses, one business is going in the opposite direction.
Michael Seifert, CEO and founder of PublicSq (pronounced “Public Square”), recently announced a new company policy offering employees a $5,000 bonus for the birth of a new baby or an adoption.
PublicSq is “a network of patriotic small businesses that allows [job-seekers] to find high-quality alternatives to woke corporations,” according to a tweet by Seifert. He previously described the company’s main product offerings, saying “PublicSq is an app and website that connects freedom-loving Americans to their local communities, reliable information, and the businesses that share their values.” The company launched in California in 2021 and nationwide in 2022.
Seifert told Fox and Friends Weekend about PublicSq’s decision to monetarily promote the growth of employee families:
We did see the world going in this direction that we believe is anti-family. We think that, ultimately, a company is only as strong as the families that built it. And then for us, we’re a pro-family company, and we’re not ashamed about that. We’re actually the largest marketplace in the country of pro-family businesses.
So we thought, ‘what better way to express this value that’s core to our beliefs than actually putting some money behind it, putting our money where our mouth is.’
Screenshot: Companies offering abortion-related benefits (Fox News)
He continued, “And while companies like Amazon, AirBnB, Target, Patagonia are offering up to $4500 to pay for their employees’ abortions, we wanted to sing an opposite tune and say ‘Let’s actually put $5000 behind any of our employees that were to have a baby, their spouse were to have a baby, or they were to adopt. And this would be $5000 after-tax. They can use it as they please, just to thank them for being a great team member and empowering them to continue to grow.”
Seifert called out the disingenuous approach of companies who fund abortions out of a professed desire to champion “women’s healthcare.” Their supposed commitment to women’s healthcare is frequently belied by an unwillingness to give equal financial support to female employees who choose to parent. Live Action previously called out the blatant prioritization of profits over people, especially preborn people, in a satire video:
Seifert commented to Fox and Friends, “These companies will pretend to care about ‘women’s healthcare,’ but at the end of the day they just don’t want to pay maternity leaves. They are more afraid of losing the monetary value that their employees provide, so they would rather choose [to fund abortions] than they would to empower the growth of these families. And I think that’s really destructive.”
Seifert contrasted this culture of corporate antipathy towards family growth with PublicSq’s approach, saying “I actually want more of our employees’ family members because I think that they’re great people and we want their communities to thrive. And we believe that ultimately strong families build a strong nation.”
In the last month alone, three PublicSq employees have announced their pregnancies and intent to take advantage of the bonus. Seifert specified that bonuses are paid out after the birth of a child or at the outset of the adoption process in order to cover the “exorbitant” fees often associated with adopting.
Seifert told The Daily Signal that the bonus applies per child, so a family welcoming twins would receive $10,000. Furthermore, there’s no cap on how many times an employee could receive the bonus.
