For decades, Republican lawmakers have claimed to be the party of business, hiding behind laws that harm voters by claiming such legislation is “pro-business.” As more executives are sharing, however, Republicans can no longer credibly claim to support businesses while opposing abortion rights. Abortion directly benefits employees, indirectly benefits businesses, and improves the economy. Pro-business means pro-choice. And in the nation with the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world, a pro-life ethic also demands being pro-choice. Republicans who would close abortion clinics, allow women to die from unwanted pregnancies, condemn doctors to the death penalty for tending to patients, and leave businesses managing sick employees are neither pro-business nor pro-life.
How Abortion Improves Economic Outcomes, Benefits Employees
A wealth of research shows that abortion means a better economy, and a better economy means a more favorable business climate. Moreover, abortion improves worker health, ensuring that employers get efficient staff and don’t have to pay sky-high insurance premiums or lose money to needless sick time. Some of the economic benefits of abortion rights include:
The Anti-Business Effects of Restrictive Abortion Laws
In one recent letter, hundreds of executives at businesses that employ hundreds of thousands of employees begged lawmakers to stop restricting abortion access.
“Restricting access to comprehensive reproductive care, including abortion, threatens the health, independence and economic stability of our employees and customers. Simply put, it goes against our values and is bad for business. It impairs our ability to build diverse and inclusive workforce pipelines, recruit top talent across the states, and protect the well-being of all the people who keep our businesses thriving day in and out,” the letter read in part.
This isn’t an isolated example. Major businesses such as Netflix have already threatened to leave Georgia, citing the threat the state’s abortion law poses to Netflix’s employees and business.
Support for Abortion is Good for Business
As legislators try to restrict abortion, or even move to execute women who seek abortions, more businesses are taking a stand. They’re finding that supporting abortion rights is good for business because Americans overwhelmingly oppose strict abortion laws. More than half of consumers say they try to buy from companies that reflect their values
A 2019 Public Religion Research Institute Survey found that, contrary to the positions of their elected representatives, a significant majority of Americans—including most Republicans support abortion rights. Eighty-four percent of Americans supported keeping abortion legal in at least some cases. Seventy-eight percent of Republicans supported abortion in some cases, with a mere 22% supporting total bans. Even Evangelical Christians offered broad support for abortion, with only about a quarter supporting total bans on the procedure.
Another 2019 survey, this one sponsored by Axios and Survey Monkey, found that 77% of Americans do not want Roe v. Wade overturned. This trend persists even among independents who identify as “never Hillary” voters, 79% of whom think Roe should remain the law of the land.
Voters don’t support draconian abortion legislation, and more businesses are sharing that they don’t either. Republicans can no longer claim that they are pro-business while being anti-choice, because anti-choice laws are bad for business.