Organizational Abortion‐Facilitative Actions in a Post‐Dobbs U.S.: Employer Decisions and Employee Reactions

ABSTRACT In a post‐Dobbs United States, employers may play a significant role in access to abortion, a critical healthcare issue for women and people who can become pregnant. Yet, we have limited systematic knowledge of what organizations offer in terms of abortion‐facilitative actions and how these actions are perceived by employees. We first define (Study 1a) and validate (1b) a taxonomy of abortion‐facilitative actions taken by organizations in the United States. We then use this taxonomy to understand politically conservative and liberal employees' perceived hedonic values and reactions to abortion‐facilitative actions (Study 2), including impacts on their perceived organizational support (Study 3). We also explore attitudes toward abortion as an individual difference that may alter relationships between abortion‐facilitative action types and employee reactions and perceptions of organizational support (Studies 2 and 3). Our analysis yielded 10 different abortion‐facilitative actions, which can be sorted into three types: direct benefits (directly provide employees time and money for abortion procedures), ancillary supports (resources that broadly help manage responsibilities or costs associated with abortion access), and public statements in support of abortion access. Direct benefits are associated with the highest hedonic value and most positive reactions and positive interpretations of the exchange relationship with the employer, particularly for those with positive attitudes toward abortion. This work provides researchers with a taxonomy of abortion‐facilitative actions and insight into how workers in the United States may perceive these actions, as well as clear indications that individual differences may alter the subjective hedonic value and outcomes of organizational actions.