Eli Lilly and Company has tacitly backed down on its threat to punish Indiana for its pro-life law, which the pharmaceutical corporation promised to do this summer.
Last week, Lilly announced a $92.5 million investment in Purdue University to create a talent pipeline of college students over the next 10 years. The company’s CEO, David Ricks, said the partnership will “help to keep our state’s best and brightest in Indiana, furthering Lilly’s ability to make life better for millions of people.”
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That’s a far cry from Eli Lilly’s blustering talk in August after Gov. Eric Holcomb signed legislation that closed down all abortion facilities and banned 98% of abortions after 10 weeks of pregnancy.
The abortion law “will hinder Lilly’s — and Indiana’s — ability to attract diverse scientific, engineering and business talent from around the world,” the company claimed in August.
At the time, a spokeswoman for Lilly said the company would “honor our current commitments” in reference to two new facilities in the state. “Given this new law, we will be forced to plan for more employment growth outside our home state,” the company threatened.
But the latest announcement and the company’s own job listings show that is not true. Companies do not typically commit $92.5 million over 10 years in a state if they plan to increase employment elsewhere. There is no similar announcement from Eli Lilly to invest money in abortion-friendly states, such as California, New York, or New Jersey.
The company’s website further shows it does not plan any time soon to open up other facilities in pro-abortion states. Only 12 of the company’s 277 U.S. jobs are outside of Indiana, which proves Lilly bluffed about expanding elsewhere.
While the Indiana law is pending legal challenges, the company did not wait until those were resolved to announce its new funding at Purdue.
The state also is likely to stay deep red, so even if this particular abortion law is overturned, there are high chances of legislators coming back next year after the elections and passing another pro-life law.
Holcomb, to his credit, did not cave in the face of corporate pressure, something his predecessor Mike Pence did when faced with big business lobbying against the state’s religious freedom law in 2015.
Companies start, grow, or relocate to conservative states because of low taxes, reasonable regulations, and an overall business-friendly environment.
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While they may boast and bluster in the media when all the attention is on them, they are nothing more than paper tigers when it comes to putting their unrelated political stances ahead of their bottom line and duty to shareholders.
Pro-life states do not need to fear corporations taking jobs away over legislation to protect innocent human life, and Eli Lilly proves that.
Matt Lamb is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is an associate editor for the College Fix and has previously worked for Students for Life of America and Turning Point USA.
