Employers are navigating a complex benefits landscape when it comes to reproductive health, as they seek to comply with various state laws restricting abortion while ensuring their employees can still access care they need.
A recent survey finds reproductive health access is top-of-mind for US adults, and this has implications for HR leaders. Abortion restrictions are prompting some adults to relocate, while reproductive health benefits are proving to be a key factor for job-seekers as they weigh whether to apply for or accept a role.
How reproductive healthcare policies are affecting workers, job-seekers. One in five adults planning to have children in the next decade said they had moved, or knew someone who had moved, to another state due to abortion restrictions, according to the survey, which was conducted by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research in partnership with Morning Consult and the Center for Reproductive Rights.
Reproductive health benefits are also influencing career decisions among this group, with 57% saying they’d be more likely to apply for or accept a job that offers them.
The findings of this survey, coupled with a recent working paper published in the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), provide further evidence of a “brain drain” from states that passed abortion bans in the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2022, which overturned a constitutional right to the procedure. The NBER paper estimates states with “total abortion bans” are losing more than 36,000 residents per quarter.
Dobbs has had a ripple effect on other types of reproductive healthcare, as access to in-vitro fertilization was threatened last year when Alabama’s Supreme Court ruled embryos should be considered people.
Even though employees might not be comfortable discussing their reproductive health needs at work, the research indicates “people are leaving, they’re moving because of this,” said Julia Taylor Kennedy, senior director of corporate engagement with the Center for Reproductive Rights. “Even if we’re not talking about it through our HR benefits person, that doesn’t mean it’s not really heavy on the minds of employees and impacting their decisions.”
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Are businesses being pressured to drop benefits? While the legal landscape for reproductive health benefits is more complex nearly three years since Roe’s overturning, companies don’t seem to be pulling back on their benefits, Taylor Kennedy said. This aligns with an HR Brew x Harris Poll survey conducted last year that found employers were looking to expand, rather than reduce, fertility benefits in the wake of the Alabama decision.
“[Companies] understand that supporting reproductive healthcare access is a strategic imperative,” Taylor Kennedy said.
A few actions that business leaders have taken in response to reproductive health restrictions include offering travel stipends that can be used by workers seeking abortions out of state, as well as expanding remote work options, said Melissa Mahoney, a senior economist with IWPR who worked on the study.
In light of how these trends may affect talent attraction and retention, HR leaders can consider offering “a wide array of reproductive healthcare benefits,” Mahoney said.
It’s also worth noting that more than one-half of employed adults surveyed (51%) said they believed companies should speak out on reproductive health policies. “The voice of employers is really powerful,” Mahoney said. “HR departments, people in administration can do their best to advocate for reproductive rights, access to abortion care in their states, and also, if possible, on the federal level.”