The Supreme Court is apparently poised to repeal the federal abortion protection of Roe v. Wade, and CEOs around the country are being called out. Some are decrying the move. Others are saying nothing. Few, if any, are publicly cheering.

There is no easy playbook here. While companies have zero obligation—legal or otherwise—to take a stand on any social or political issue, they have in recent years waded into those waters (consider after George Floyd's killing, North Carolina's bathroom ban, and Georgia's voting laws). And of course companies don’t have opinions, CEOs do, which they may or may not share, and—as Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America stressed this week on CBS re: Roe—may or may not be the prevailing view of their constituents.

“It's the settled law of the land. We believe people should have that access," Moynihan said, cautioning that his opinion does not reflect that of all the company's 200,000 U.S. employees. "I could have a personal point of view, but that's not what we do," he said.

Then, there's the issue itself — its fate still hanging in the balance. Abortion has long been a third rail of American politics. Some CEOs are stating their positions more forcefully than Moynihan, either because they feel strongly about the issue or because doing so is good for their business—or both. Those who are loathe to speak out about abortion may believe they risk alienating 40% or so of not just their employees, but customers and shareholders—never mind local citizens and politicians. (BTW, parsing pro-choice and pro-life opinion polls is a fraught science all its own.)

The paradox is the more these difficult issues come to the fore, the more chief executives are being asked to weigh in. And they’ve watched with alarm as Disney CEO Bob Chapek fumbled the handling of his company’s response to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act, or what critics have dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill.