Young professionals want their employers to publicly voice support for abortion or help staff obtain them, according to a new poll.
A national survey of workers conducted by Lean In — a left-leaning nonprofit launched by former Meta executive Sheryl Sandberg — indicated that 34% of employees under the age of 40 are “considering switching jobs” since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade due to their employers’ perceived lackluster responses. The 1973 opinion — which purported that abortion is protected under the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution — was nixed in June through the court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
Young workers are particularly looking for a company that “publicly supports access to abortion” and offers benefits accordingly. Among those in managerial positions, 43% of women and 40% of men are considering a job change, while 84% of women under 40 believe that the overturn of Roe v. Wade will “negatively impact women’s ability to advance in the workforce.”
When asked about policies employers could implement, respondents to the poll suggested that they “increase financial support for employees who need to travel out of state to get an abortion,” “protect the privacy of employees who seek abortions,” and cover abortion under the company’s health care plan.
Indeed, beginning with the leak of Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson in early May, several large corporations began announcing that they would pay travel expenses for employees obtaining abortions.
“Our company remains committed to removing barriers and providing comprehensive access to quality and affordable care for all of our employees, cast members and their families, including family planning and reproductive care, no matter where they live,” executives from Disney said in a memo. The entertainment conglomerate employs 75,000 people in Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) recently signed legislation banning abortions after 15 weeks gestation.
Likewise, DICK’S Sporting Goods CEO Lauren Hobart said that the company is “prepared to ensure that all of our teammates have consistent and safe access to the benefits we provide, regardless of the state in which they live.”
Companies such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Levi Strauss, Amazon, and Apple offered similar policies. Yelp Chief Diversity Officer Miriam Warren recently told CNN that her company’s policy has been a “wonderful recruiting tool in terms of prospective employees saying, ‘I want to work at a company that is out there and loud about what they believe in, and what they care about.’”
Polls indicate that most Americans would prefer that abortion either be legal in most cases or illegal in most cases. Only 8% of the population believes that abortion should be illegal with no exceptions, according to Pew Research Center.
Women and men belonging to racial minority groups are “about twice as likely as white women and men” to consider switching jobs over companies’ abortion policies, according to the Lean In survey. While 84% of Democrats and 77% of independents under the age of 40 are “more likely to work for a company that supports access to abortion,” 63% of Republicans under 40 said the same — reflecting more Pew Research Center data indicating that young Republicans are more likely than their older counterparts to support legal abortion.
Source: Dailywire
