Abortion restrictions are playing a role in where companies are located. The job may be lost.

When companies hire Dennis Donovan to help decide where to put a new facility, he opens with some basic questions: Do they prefer a particular area? Are there any states that have tax policies that make them a no-go?

Now, Donovan says, he’s adding another item to the list: Will the company consider a state banning abortion? “You ask it right up front,” Donovan says.

The US Supreme Court ruled that abortion has no federal constitutional right, the procedure has been banned in seven states, its status remains unclear in a handful of states, and more restrictions are expected to go into effect soon.

In the immediate aftermath, some large employers have responded by saying that they will pay for the travel of employees to access abortion. Bigger and more challenging questions may emerge for companies. Corporate site selection experts, who help companies decide where to locate offices and other business functions, say dramatic state-by-state differences in abortion use are likely to have a major impact. Where employers decide to set up shop.

States that preserve access to abortion are already trying to wean the trade away from states with restrictions. “Our pitch to companies is, come to New Jersey, you won’t have to apologize to a large portion of your workforce for the state’s policies,” says Tim Sullivan, chief executive officer of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. State agency responsible for attracting businesses and investment to the state.

A March survey conducted by research firm Morning Consult found that 52% of employed adults prefer to live in a state where abortion is legal, while 24% prefer to live in a state where abortion is illegal. Among current students aged 18 and older, the gap was wide: 78% preferred to live in a state with legal abortion.

Donovan, a principal at Bridgewater, NJ-based corporate site selection firm Wadley Donovan Gutshaw Consulting, says she needs recognizable consumer brands and technology companies to avoid fear of consumer and employee backlash, especially in states with abortion restrictions. expected.

“It will cost jobs, there’s no question about it,” he says. “Companies that could have established operations in those states will not.”

This will not be the first time that companies have given passes to the state due to the controversial law. Donovan and another site selection consultant, John Boyd, Jr., cited as an example a 2016 North Carolina law known as the “bathroom bill,” which requires schools and local government facilities to People should only use the bathroom that matches the gender listed. His birth certificate. The law was seen as an attack on transgender people, and both March Madness and the college basketball tournament known as the NBA All-Star Game were moved out of state in protest. The following year the major restrictions of the law were repealed.

Boyd, a principal at The Boyd Company, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based corporate site selection consulting company, said abortion legislation had already come in place in some of his site selection projects, although it had not yet ended any state. think thought. “I think the mood right now is that it’s all so refreshing,” he says.

How companies ultimately respond may depend on important questions that remain unresolved, including whether abortion pills will be available in states where abortion is banned.

Sullivan of New Jersey told baron’s That he does not expect an immediate exodus from states with recently adopted abortion restrictions. “I don’t know that there are a ton of companies that are going to be uprooted overnight,” he says. “But I think it’s a long-term problem for the economic competitiveness of those states, because, again, talent votes with its feet.”

Boyd says the abortion issue gives Democratic governors like New Jersey’s Phil Murphy a chance to put their state’s case before the CEO. “It’s allowing blue state governors to have an opening wedge to liaise with one company, and then be able to present other business climate positives,” he says.

Boyd says abortion bans and restrictions in states such as Texas and Georgia pose a threat to their recent success in drawing companies. “A big part of the winning recipe for Sun Belt markets isn’t just lower costs and lower taxes, it’s the migration of talent,” he says. “Anything that could potentially slow … would be an economic growth challenge.”

Greg Abbott, a spokesman for Texas Gov., pointed to the state’s recent success in attracting businesses, including the announcement by construction equipment maker Caterpillar (ticker: CAT) in mid-June that it would move its headquarters from Illinois to Texas.

“Texas remains number one because of the unmatched competitive advantages we offer: no corporate or personal income taxes, a predictable regulatory environment, and a young, growing and skilled workforce,” said Abbott’s press secretary, René Eze.

Pat Wilson, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, said in a statement. baron’s That won’t change his message to companies: “Georgia is the best place in the country to live, work, and grow business.”

Site-selection decisions take time, and the full impact of an abortion decision may not be apparent for years. Boyd says that if there was a big move away from states where abortion is illegal, it wouldn’t take long to start. “When all this smoke clears, I think it will take just one or two major companies to cancel a project, and for that to trigger the idea that there is going to be a backlash,” they say.

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