The Overall Implication of Abortion Restrictions

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month, many states in the U.S. have imposed abortion restrictions or soon will. 

During a webinar titled “Ensuring Reproductive Health: What Are Companies Doing?” presented by Rutgers University’s Center for Women in Business, Yana van der Meulen Rodgers, a professor in the Department of Labor Studies and Employment Relations at Rutgers University and Faculty Director of the Center for Women and Work at Rutgers, said the overall implications of the Supreme Court’s decision have to do with a number of areas. The first is a human rights point of view. 

“Women and abortion seekers have a right to have access to this fundamental reproductive health service,” she said. 

Rodgers added that there are also health implications. 

“If people are delayed in getting abortion care and if these delays cause them to have to get an abortion in another state in the second trimester, these kinds of abortions are riskier for the health of the abortion seeker,” she said. 

There are also economic issues at three different levels: the microeconomic level, the misoeconomic level and the macroeconomic level. Read more about each level here.

Corporate Support & Employee Privacy

Companies such as Google, Duolingo and Patagonia have come out and said they will help employees find abortion care, whether that’s by helping with travel assistance or relocation assistance for employees who live in states with abortion restrictions, said Nadia Khamis, Director of Corporate Engagement at Planned Parenthood. 

Rodgers said many companies have come out and said they will provide benefits for abortion seekers, but how they are doing so may or may not protect the privacy of the employee. 

“There are some considerations,” she said. “Like if someone is doing it through their health insurance plan, apparently that will protect the privacy of abortion seekers. But if it’s some other form like a direct reimbursement, that may not protect the privacy of abortion seekers.”

“People looking for these services do need to take into consideration what the privacy aspects are, especially since abortion is still unfortunately stigmatized in our society and we still need to deal with that stigma,” she added.

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