A third of US employers offer abortion benefits
This is double the number who did so before Roe V Wade was overturned in June.
Why You Should Care
Americans no longer have the constitutional right to abortion.
Employers are stepping up to support workers with their reproductive care.
Find out the full details from WTW.
At the end of June, the US Supreme Court came a decision in the case of? Dobbs V Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The case saw Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the only abortion center remaining in Mississippi, challenging the state’s Gestational Age Act, which was passed in 2018 and banned all abortions after 15 weeks (with a few exceptions).
The Supreme Court decided to uphold the law and at the same time argue the US Constitution does not protect a right to abortion.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote in an opinion: “The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision [including] the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
This decision by the US Supreme Court, therefore, overturned the landmark 1973 Roe V Wade ruling that had previously provided the constitutional right to abortion in the US.
In the wake of the decision, over half of America’s 50 states have either banned abortion, or are in the process of placing limits on reproductive rights. A graph by the Guardian shows that 15 states have banned abortion already, while a further ten are threatening to do so, or expecting restrictions soon
The most recent example is Idaho; on Friday 12 August, the state’s supreme court introduced a near total ban on abortions.
How are employers responding?
In the wake of the overturning of Roe V Wade, many employers have stepped up to support their workers.
These organizations wanted to ensure that their employees still have access to safe reproductive care despite the criminalizing of abortion in many US states. The primary approach was to pay travel costs for employees to get an abortion out of state if they lived in a state where the procedure was now illegal.
Examples of employers that immediately stepped up are Salesforce, Disney, Johnson and Johnson, Amazon, and Patagonia.
Now research by WTW has found that more than a third (35%) of employers offer travel and lodging benefits linked with abortions. This is double the figure that did so pre-the US Supreme Court decision.
A further 16% plan to do so in 2023, and 21% are also considering this move next year.
44% of the 305 employers surveyed told WTW they were also planning to enhance their offerings this year as a result of the law change. 46% are keen to do so in the future.
WTW also looked at the limits that employers are placing on abortion benefits. 43% are putting an annual limit on employees’ claiming these benefits, while 28% have a lifetime cap.
Talking about the findings, WTW senior director of health and benefits Courtney Stubblefield commented: “The Dobbs decision raises questions for employers for which there are no immediate answers given the ongoing changes in state laws.
“Employers will need to stay aware of developments in order to align benefit programs with organization goals and to best meet employees’ benefit needs.”
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Chief Reporter
Allie is an experienced business journalist and can be reached at alexandra@unleash.ai.
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