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abortion
'Brain Drain': Study Shows Workers Fleeing States With Abortion Bans
"Workers are not willing to trade their health and autonomy for a paycheck," said one advocate.
Mar 03, 2025
Republican lawmakers across the United States are determined to force people who become pregnant to carry their pregnancies to term by passing abortion bans and "fetal personhood" laws, but a new report shows that in many states, they are choosing choosing restrictions on reproductive rights over their states' workforce.
"Workers are not willing to trade their health and autonomy for a paycheck," said Dr. Jamila K. Taylor, president and CEO of the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) as the group released a report Monday on "brain drain" in states with abortion bans.
The group analyzed a survey of 10,000 adults by Morning Consult and found that 1 in 5 respondents who are planning to have children in the next decade has moved to a new state due to abortion restrictions, or knows someone who has.
Among people with advanced degrees, 14% have moved out-of-state because of anti-abortion laws or know someone who has.
Nancy Northrup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), which advised on the study, said the report showed that "reproductive healthcare is a personal issue and workplace imperative."
"For business leaders and policymakers, protecting reproductive rights isn't just the right thing to do—it's essential for talent and long-term economic stability," said Northrup.
The two groups said the study showed employees' demands for policymakers and workplaces in states that are hostile to abortion rights.
"Access to reproductive healthcare is a fundamental component of workplace equity, and businesses can no longer afford to ignore the impact of abortion restrictions on their workforce."
Fifty-seven percent of workers who plan to have children prioritize employers who offer reproductive healthcare benefits and 56% person think companies should actively engage with lawmakers to protect abortion rights.
In states with restrictive abortion laws, people broadly support family-friendly workplace policies, according to the report, including 83% of Mississippi residents who back paid sick leave; 56% of people in West Virginia who think employers should offer paid time off for fertility treatments; and 70% of people in Alabama who support paid leave for pregnancy-related healthcare.
"Access to reproductive healthcare is a fundamental component of workplace equity, and businesses can no longer afford to ignore the impact of abortion restrictions on their workforce," said Taylor. "Our report makes it clear that companies who fail to address these needs risk losing their competitive edge. To build a resilient workforce and thriving economy, it's up to corporate leaders and lawmakers to take decisive action and make reproductive health care a top priority."
Workers expect their employers to not only provide reproductive healthcare and family-friendly benefits, but also to "stand up for these rights at a policy level," the report reads.
"Companies can play a critical role in helping to shape more accessible state policies and creating an environment that respects and safeguards access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare," it continues.
The report suggests that with workers thinking of moving to new states to get away from anti-abortion laws, employers will likely be incentivized to help ensure their states safeguard "access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare."
"Most employees are deeply concerned about their ability to access healthcare services while building their families, and they expect their employers to take an active role in protecting them," reads the report. "Accepting that reality and then making decisions from there will enable companies to attract and retain talent and, by advocating to improve the reproductive landscape across the U.S., drive economic progress."
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Six Months After Iowa Abortion Ban, Crisis of Care Spreading Across Midwest
"This is what abortion bans do—they don't stop people from needing abortions, they just make access harder and more expensive."
Feb 27, 2025
Midwestern abortion funds on Thursday presented the latest evidence that state-level abortion bans have effects that reach far beyond state borders, with wait times increasing in states friendlier to reproductive healthcare and abortion funds reporting strained resources, making it harder for people throughout the region to obtain care.
The Chicago Abortion Fund reported that, according to a coalition of groups that raise funds for patients in the Midwest, hundreds of Iowans traveled across state lines to get abortion care since the state's six-week abortion ban went into effect last July.
One hundred and thirty state residents have traveled to Minnesota in the last six months to obtain abortions, while 84 have gone to Nebraska and 47 have traveled to Illinois.
Clinics in Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Kansas are reporting longer wait times, with some patients required to wait up to five weeks for their appointments—forcing some Iowans to travel even further, delaying care for both local and out-of-state patients, and likely leaving some patients with no choice but to carry unwanted pregnancies.
"With Omaha sitting right on the Iowa border, we've seen a dramatic increase in the number of Iowans seeking care in Nebraska," said Shelley Mann, executive director of Nebraska Abortion Resources. "Our clinics are already stretched thin, and Iowans are often forced to travel even farther due to limited appointment availability in our state. This is what abortion bans do—they don't stop people from needing abortions, they just make access harder and more expensive."
"This is what abortion funds do: We step up, we organize, and we make sure people get the care they want, need, and deserve."
While clinics across the region are seeing an influx of out-of-state patients, abortion funds are seeing an increase in the support needed by Iowa residents living under the state's abortion ban.
The Chicago Abortion Fund saw a 222% increase in the number of Iowans needing help covering the cost of their procedure, travel expenses, and other practical costs in just one year.
The fund poured $7,139 into practical support for patients in August 2024, the first full month under the ban, compared to $2,536 in June 2024.
The Iowa Abortion Access Fund also reported a 21% increase in Iowans needing help paying for abortion care compared to 2021, before Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Shayla Walker, executive director of Our Justice, an abortion fund in Minnesota, said that since Iowa's abortion ban went into effect, the organization has "been averaging 18 patients a month from Iowa at a total cost of $54,800—before the ban, we averaged around six at a fraction of the cost."
"The reality is abortion bans don't stop people from needing abortions," said Walker, but instead widen "the gap in access and mortality rates among Black, queer, disabled folks, and minimum wage workers."
With the six-week ban in place, Iowa now has only two clinics that provide abortion care—a Planned Parenthood clinic in Ames and the Emma Goldman Clinic in Iowa City. Five clinics provided care before July 2024.
The Guttmacher Institute, which researches abortion care, found in a report published this month that 76% of abortions in Iowa in 2023 were provided with medication rather than surgical procedures.
With the loss of brick-and-mortar clinics across the state, Isabel DoCampo, a senior research associate at the Guttmacher Institute, toldIowa Public Radio Thursday that a rising number of Iowans could seek medication abortions from online-only providers.
"It could be that we see further changes in clinic counts in Iowa, which could place greater importance on telemedicine provision throughout the state as a result of this ban," DoCampo told the outlet.
Megan Jeyifo, executive director of the Chicago Abortion Fund, said the group will continue to be "nimble and relentless in responding to every new barrier, every policy shift, and every crisis moment."
"In just the last year, we've handled over 16,000 support requests and distributed $5 million in direct assistance, the most in our 40-year history," Jeyifo said. "This is what abortion funds do: We step up, we organize, and we make sure people get the care they want, need, and deserve."
"Abortion funds have always been here, working together across state lines to get people to care," Jeyifo added, "because access to abortion is not just about laws, it's about the people who need care right now. No matter the barriers, we will find a way."
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'Republican Abortion Bans Kill Women': Maternal Sepsis Rates Soar in Texas
"It is kind of mind-blowing that even before the bans researchers barely looked into complications of pregnancy loss in hospitals," said one expert.
Feb 20, 2025
"This is exactly what we predicted would happen and exactly what we were afraid would happen."
That's what Dr. Lorie Harper, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist in Austin, said after reviewing the data behind a ProPublica analysis published Thursday revealing that, since Texas banned abortion in 2021, the rate of sepsis soared by more than 50% for women hospitalized in the state when they lost their pregnancies in the second trimester.
In the years immediately preceding Texas' abortion ban, the rate of sepsis—a life-threatening condition caused by infection—for women hospitalized in the second trimester of pregnancy held relatively steady around 3%. Since the ban, the sepsis rate for such women has shot up to nearly 5%.
"After the state banned abortion, dozens more pregnant and postpartum women died in Texas hospitals than had in pre-pandemic years, which ProPublica used as a baseline to avoid Covid-19-related distortions," states the report by Lizzie Presser, Andrea Suozzo, Sophie Chou, and Kavitha Surana.
Republican abortion bans kill women. Texas’ maternal mortality rate increased 33% since they banned abortion and threatened doctors with 99 years in prison. You never see laws targeting and denying healthcare for men that increases their risk of death.
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— Melanie D’Arrigo ( @darrigomelanie.bsky.social) February 20, 2025 at 5:51 AM
The analysis notes that "the standard of care for miscarrying patients in the second trimester is to offer to empty the uterus," which can lower the risk of infection and, by extension, sepsis. However, some hospitals don't allow doctors to perform the potentially lifesaving procedure until after a fetal heartbeat stops, or until they find a life-threatening complication.
That's because under Texas' misnomered "Heartbeat Law," pregnant people who have abortions cannot be penalized, but anyone who performs or aids in the procurement of the procedure faces as many as 99 years in prison, up to a $100,00 fine, and the possible loss of their professional license.
Texas empowers private individuals to sue anyone who "knowingly engages in conduct that aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion" after the sixth week of pregnancy, a period before which many people even know they are pregnant. Plaintiffs who win in court are entitled to a reward of $10,000 plus costs and attorneys' fees.
Although the law contains an exception for "a life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy," the authors of the ProPublica analysis noted that "the definition of what constitutes an emergency has been subject to confusion and debate."
In short, healthcare providers fear running afoul of the ambiguous law. This has resulted in deadly and life-threatening delays in care.
As the report highlights:
Forced to wait 40 hours as her dying fetus pressed against her cervix, Josseli Barnica risked a dangerous infection. Doctors didn't induce labor until her fetus no longer had a heartbeat.
Physicians waited, too, as Nevaeh Crain's organs failed. Before rushing the pregnant teenager to the operating room, they ran an extra test to confirm her fetus had expired.
Both women had hoped to carry their pregnancies to term, both suffered miscarriages, and both died.
"It's black and white in the law, but it's very vague when you're in the moment," Dr. Tony Ogburn, an OB-GYN in San Antonio, told ProPublica.
Republican lawmakers who helped write Texas' law have recently said they're open to revisions aimed at protecting pregnant peoples' lives in light of the harms reported by ProPublica and others. Last month, Republican Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said that "I do think we need to clarify any language so that doctors are not in fear of being penalized if they think the life of the mother is at risk."
However, it is uncertain how or when the law might be amended. Meanwhile, deaths attributed to abortion bans have also been reported—and reportedly covered up—in other states.
"It is kind of mind-blowing," perinatal epidemiologist Alison Gemmill told ProPublica, "that even before the bans researchers barely looked into complications of pregnancy loss in hospitals."
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