New Report Encourages Businesses to Pay for Employees' Abortions

Credit: Daniel Günther / Flickr

A new report suggests that businesses should pay for their employees' abortions because doing so would benefit businesses. While this might be true, it would only harm women.

The report, titled “Hidden Value: The Business Case for Reproductive Health,” argues that businesses will benefit from paying for their employees' abortions for several reasons: They argue that businesses will be able to attract and retain workers who would otherwise not be able to afford "reproductive health care," women who become pregnant could easily abort their children and continue to provide value towards businesses' bottom lines, workforces would be more diverse, and businesses would appease shareholders who care about their position on social issues.

Employers have discriminated against women in the past because they can become pregnant. They choose to hire men instead of women simply because they will not need maternity leave. This study feeds employers' stigma against working women by trying to make abortion a standard benefit (and the standard response to working women becoming pregnant). It furthers the idea that unless women abort, business owners have no good reason to hire or promote women.

If businesses take this advice, women will feel even more pressure from their employers to make life-ending decisions regarding their children.

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