Abortion Workers, Crushed by Restrictions and Buoyed by Labor Movement, Are Unionizing

Burned out abortion-care providers are joining the avalanche of labor activity that has swept the US this year, with clinics from California to Maryland voting to unionize after the end of Roe v. Wade heaped demand on their services.

At least eight reproductive health-care groups have organized since the Supreme Court overturned Roe last summer, according to a review of National Labor Relations Board data, including at least four Planned Parenthood affiliates. Just last month, Partners in Abortion Care, an independent clinic in Maryland, said it had voluntarily recognized its staff’s decision to unionize. In September, nearly 300 employees at a California Planned Parenthood affiliate —one of the largest in the country — voted to unionize.