Progressive Cities Give Paid Leave to Employees Who Get Abortions

A growing number of progressive cities are quietly expanding their paid leave policies to cover women who get abortions.

The Portland City Council last month expanded its three-day paid bereavement leave to cover women who experience "pregnancy loss," a category that includes abortion, miscarriage, and stillborn delivery. The Pittsburgh City Council enacted a nearly identical proposal a month prior. The Boston City Council in September expanded its 12-week paid parental leave policy to include women and their partners after an abortion. All three plans were passed unanimously.

Democratic lawmakers across the country are pushing to maximize abortion protections as the Supreme Court prepares to take up a historic challenge to Roe v. Wade. Last month, Illinois passed a bill that will allow minors to get abortions without informing their parents. And the House of Representatives passed a bill in September that would codify Roe into law.

The paid leave plans appear to be the first of their kind, according to the Guttmacher Institute's Elizabeth Nash. Boston councilwoman Lydia Edwards (D.) said the expansion bill, which she cosponsored, is "an acknowledgment in modernizing our parental leave laws."