Group health plans and abortion: Implications of Supreme Court decision

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, employers are questioning what impact, if any, this decision will have on their group health plans. In the Dobbs decision, the Supreme Court reversed 50 years of precedent by ruling that the Constitution does not provide for a right to abortion and therefore that states have the constitutional right to legislate abortion. How, then, does this ruling impact employer-sponsored group health plans? In this alert, we address four items of immediate concern and expect to supplement this analysis as this drastic change in the law develops.

 1. Must a group health plan provide coverage for abortions?