Paid Sick Days and Abortion Access

Established research shows that medication abortion is a safe, effective option for ending a pregnancy up to ten weeks of gestation. Amid ongoing abortion restrictions throughout the country, medication abortion, in person or via telehealth, has become increasingly common, now accounting for more than half of abortions in the U.S. Many people may not know that paid sick days can also be applied to this form of care. See our issue brief, coauthored by National Network of Abortion Funds and If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice, on Using Paid Sick Days for Medication Abortion.

Know Your Rights: Accessing Paid Sick Days for Abortion Care

Not everyone who needs access to abortion care may be aware of paid sick days laws in their city, county or state. We partnered with the National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF) to create Know Your Rights documents for five localities: Arizona; Duluth, Minn.; Minneapolis; Rhode Island; and St. Paul, Minn.

These documents can be used by people seeking abortion care in these places to understand their rights to paid sick days, and by workplace rights and reproductive rights, health and justice advocates to inspire collaboration and collective action in states where barriers to abortion access or a lack of paid sick days protections undermines people's access to care.

When abortion care is already hard to access, a lack of paid sick days adds insult to injury.

Our issue brief, Paid Sick Days Enhance Women's Abortion Access and Economic Security explains why removing barriers to abortion and ensuring access to paid sick days go hand in hand.