Organizational abortion support benefits in the post-Roe world: employee and employer perspectives

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-08-2022-0209
• Published date: 28 October 2022
• Date: 28 October 2022
• Pages: 70-78
• Subject Matter: HR & organizational behaviour,Employment law,Diversity,equality,inclusion
• Author: Caren Goldberg,Ho Kwan Cheung

Organizational abortion

support benefits in the post-Roe

world: employee and

employer perspectives

Caren Goldberg

Department of Business Administration and Marketing, Universidad de Sevilla,

Seville, Spain and

Caren Goldberg, Ph.D., LLC, Vienna, Virginia, USA, and

Ho Kwan Cheung

Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada

Abstract

Purpose –The authors discuss the implications of the recent United States Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v.

Jackson and its impact onemployees and employers. Although several employers issued public statements regarding

the provision of abortion-related benefits, the authors highlight some of the obstacles to their imple mentation.

Design/methodology/approach –With a focus on employee wellbeing, the authors discussthe obstacles in

implementing abortion care benefits.

Findings –While it is encouraging to see many organizations make public statements in support of abortion

rights, the authors temper their enthusiam with questions about practicality.

Research limitations/implications–Based on the researchon hidden st igmasa ndth e job demands-resources

model, the authors argue that employees who need to use abortion-related benefits may be unlikely to seek them.

Practical implications –The authors highlight some unanswered questions relating to the requesting and

granting of abortion healthcare benefits.

Social implications –The Dobbs decision takes away rights. While the authors applaud organizations’

efforts to restore them, facilitating access to an abortion in other states is quite complicated.

Originality/value –Although abortions are very common, very little organizational research has addressed

the topic. In light of the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, the paper raises some timely questions about employer-

sponsored abortion healthcare.

Keywords Personal health, Sex and gender issues, Abortion

Paper type Viewpoint

The decision whether or not to bear a child is central to a woman’s life, to her well-being and

dignity ...When government controls that decision for her, she is being treated as less than a fully

adult human responsible for her own choices. Ruth Bader Ginsberg, 1993 confirmation hearing

Even before the United States Supreme Court had issued a ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson on June

24, 2022, leaks of the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade had been circulating for weeks,

prompting individuals to engage in protests and prompting organizations to develop

response plans. Indeed, within the first week since Roe was overturned, over 60 organizations

made public statements, indicating that they will cover or reimburse employees in the US who

EDI

41,9

70

© Caren Goldberg and Ho Kwan Cheung. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is

published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce,

distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial

purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence

may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/2040-7149.htm

Received 12 August 2022

Revised 15 September 2022

Accepted 15 September 2022

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 41 No. 9, 2022

pp. 70-78

Emerald Publishing Limited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-08-2022-0209