Conservative policymakers have been discussing how to restrict private employer-covered abortions, The Washington Post said.
The Heritage Foundation, an influential conservative think tank, has called for using federal labor law to restrict private employers from providing coverage for abortions in states that restrict the procedure.
The think tank said the Labor Department and Congress should clarify that employer-sponsored health insurance "should not be allowed to trump states' ability to protect innocent human life in the womb."
The restriction would make it more difficult for people to obtain out-of-state abortions. More than 170,000 patients traveled across state lines to seek abortions in 2023, the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights, said.
Other conservatives have supported rescinding a new federal rule from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that requires employers to offer unpaid time off for abortions, the Post reported.
Rachel Morrison, an attorney with the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a conservative think tank, told the Post, ending the rule is a massive priority for religious organizations.
"At the end of the day, this rule is going to hurt pregnant women and their unborn children in the workplace," Morrison said to the Post.
In April, 17 states sued the EEOC over the rule, citing federal overreach.
According to KFF, a health policy research organization, about half of companies with 200 employees cover abortion services under health insurance plans.
It is unknown if these conservative groups would push for these plans if former President Donald Trump were reelected, according to the Post. Abortion has become a divisive issue among conservatives, with many fearing it is a losing strategy in elections, the Post reported.
Trump has said abortion should be left up for each state to decide and said he would not restrict birth control.
The Heritage Foundation proposes using a Labor Department law known as the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974 to restrict employer-sponsored abortion access, the Post said.
ERISA, which allows employers to enact uniform health-care plans across the states where their employees reside, says if an employer chooses to cover abortions, it can do across all states where it has employees, allowing employees to live in states where abortion is restricted to get the procedure in another state, the Post reported.
Companies such as Amazon, Apple, and Disney offer reimbursement for employees to get out of state abortions.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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