FIRMS TO COVER ABORTION TRAVEL COSTS
Many proclaim their support for out-of-state access
After the Supreme Court’s ruling Friday that ended federal abortion rights, several companies released statements reaffirming their commitment to helping employees gain access to health care services they may not be able to obtain in their state.
Companies began in May to come out with policies covering travel expenses for employees who need abortions, after a leaked memo from Supreme Court justices previewed their decision on the case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. This small group included Starbucks, Tesla, Yelp, Airbnb, Microsoft, Netflix, Patagonia, DoorDash, JPMorgan Chase, Levi Strauss, PayPal and Reddit.
Others, including The Walt Disney Co., Meta, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Condé Nast, joined them Friday when the decision became final, although most of them avoided making public statements directly referencing the ruling.
Johnson & Johnson said in a statement Friday that it strove to “put health within reach for the people we serve,” adding, “We also believe health care decisions are best determined by individuals in consultation with their health care provider.”
Levi Strauss called on business leaders to take a stand against the ruling. “Protection of reproductive rights is a critical business issue impacting our workforce, our economy and progress toward gender and racial equity,” the company said. “Given what is at stake, business leaders need to make their voices heard.”
A spokesperson for JPMorgan Chase, the country’s largest bank with about 170,000 U.S. employees, said the company was focused on equal access to health care for all its employees. She highlighted a June 1 memo alerting employees that their travel costs would be covered if they needed to go more than 50 miles to receive certain medical procedures, including abortions.
Reddit also said its employees could get a stipend to cover travel for procedures such as abortions. “Our benefits programs are designed to support the health and safety of our employees, and we also have robust policies to support women in the workplace,” said a representative for the company.
Although a majority of these travel policies followed the leaked memo, the trend began last year, after Texas enacted a ban on abortion after six weeks.
With abortion rights now overturned on the federal level, there is more pressure for companies to respond, especially for those with headquarters in one of the 13 states that have measures in place to ban abortion immediately or very soon.
“Employers like us may be the last line of defense,” said Sarah Jackel, the chief operating officer of Civitech, a company in Texas that employs 55 people and builds technology tools for political campaigns. Civitech committed to covering travel expenses for workers seeking an abortion immediately after Texas’ ban went into effect.
Jackel said the policy had strong support from both employees and investors, although the company declined to say if anyone had used it.
“It makes good business sense,” Jackel added. “There’s no reason we should be putting our employees in the position of having to choose between keeping their job or carrying out an unwanted pregnancy.”
Here’s what other companies had to say:
Warner Bros. said it would cover travel expenses for abortions. “In light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision, we immediately expanded our health care benefits options to cover transportation expenses for employees and their covered family members who need to travel to access abortion and reproductive care,” said a company representative.
Disney said it would cover travel expenses as well: “We recognize the impact that today’s Supreme Court ruling could have on many Americans,” wrote Paul Richardson, the company’s head of human resources, and Pascale Thomas, a vice president.
A representative for Meta said: “We intend to offer travel expense reimbursements, to the extent permitted by law, for employees who will need them to access out-of-state health care and reproductive services. We are in the process of assessing how best to do so given the legal complexities involved.”
Bank of America said: “We have expanded the list of medical treatments that are eligible for travel expense reimbursement. This list will now includes cancer treatment, organ transplants at centers of excellence, reproductive health care including abortion, and hospital admissions for mental health conditions.”
Intuit said Friday it would cover employee travel expenses to get abortions. “We support our employees’ access to comprehensive health care — no matter where they live,” the company said. “We will continue to do what we can to best support employees’ ongoing access to the full range of health care that they believe is right for them.”
Condé Nast said it would cover travel and lodging for employees to get abortions. “It is a crushing blow to reproductive rights that have been protected for nearly half a century,” said Roger Lynch, Condé Nast’s CEO.
Zillow said it would reimburse its employees up to $7,500 when significant travel is required for medical procedures including abortions. “We strongly support our employees’ right to make health care choices that are right for them, and we will continue to do so,” a Zillow representative said.
Box, which had already said it would cover employee travel expenses for abortions, said it was “disappointed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.”
Salesforce said it would relocate employees concerned about their ability to get abortions in Texas. “We will continue to offer our long-standing travel and relocation benefits to ensure employees and their families
have access to critical health care services,” a representative said.
Patagonia reaffirmed its commitment to covering employee travel expenses for abortions: “Caring for employees extends beyond basic health insurance,” the company said on LinkedIn. “It means supporting employees’ choices around if or when they have a child.”
Dick’s Sporting Goods said it would provide up to $4,000 in travel reimbursement for employees who live in states that restrict abortion access and that the policy would apply to any spouse or dependent covered by the company’s medical plan.
Lyft, which had previously said it would cover travel expenses for abortions, said the Supreme Court’s decision “will hurt millions of women by taking away access to safe, and private reproductive health care services.”
It also said it was expanding its “legal defense commitment” to protecting drivers who may be sued for taking people to clinics. “No driver should have to ask a rider where they are going and why,” Lyft said.
Uber emphasized the company’s insurance coverage for “a range of reproductive health benefits, including pregnancy termination” and its commitment to covering travel expenses for employees accessing health care services.
“We will also continue to stand behind drivers, reimbursing
legal expenses if any driver is sued under state law for providing transportation on our platform to a clinic,” the company said.
BuzzFeed’s CEO, Jonah Peretti, told staff Friday that the company would provide stipends for employees who needed to travel for abortions. “The decision is so regressive and horrific for women that it compels us to step up as a company to ensure that any of our employees who are impacted have funding and access to safe abortions as needed,” he said.
Jeremy Stoppelman, Yelp’s co-founder and CEO, called the decision a threat to gender equality in the workplace.
“Business leaders must step up to support the health and safety of their employees by speaking out against the wave of abortion bans that will be triggered as a result of this decision and call on Congress to codify Roe into law,” he said. Yelp had earlier pledged to cover travel expenses for abortion.
•H&M said it would cover travel and transportation expenses for employees living in states where abortion is prohibited or restricted: “Not only is supporting access to comprehensive reproductive care for our colleagues pivotal in supporting our women-led workforce, but also crucial to our commitment toward full gender parity and equal opportunity in the workplace and broader society,” the clothing company said.
Vox Media said the company would cover travel expenses for employee abortions, and would also expand its pregnancy loss leave to cover people who get abortions. “This ruling will have a disproportionate impact on access to care depending on where people live,” Jim Bankoff, the company’s CEO, wrote in a memo. “It puts families, communities and the economy at risk, threatening the gains that women have made in the workplace over the past 50 years.”
Adobe, which had previously said its health care policy covered travel expenses for abortions, said: “We have and will always prioritize inclusive benefits to create a world-class culture for our employees.”
Google, which covers travel expenses for employee abortions, told its employees they could also apply to relocate “without justification.”
Starbucks announced earlier this year that it would cover employee travel expenses for abortions, and the company’s senior vice president, Sara Kelly, said Friday that employees would be able to access this benefit confidentially. “It doesn’t matter what you believe, it doesn’t matter where you live, it’s about access to health care,” Kelly said.
Impossible Foods said it would cover travel, lodging, meals and child care for employees who need to travel to get abortions out of state: “Supporting our colleagues in their reproductive health is absolutely the right thing to do,” Peter McGuinness, the CEO, said on LinkedIn.
Accenture, Expedia and Match Group said they would help cover travel for employees who needed health care procedures not provided locally.
Douglas Elliman said it would expand its health care coverage to reimburse employees who have to travel to get abortions: “Douglas Elliman stands firmly behind women and their reproductive rights,” said company leaders in an email to staff.
Nike said it covered travel and lodging for employees who needed to travel to get health care procedures, including abortions: “No matter where our teammates are on their family planning journey — from contraception and abortion coverage, to pregnancy and family-building support through fertility, surrogacy and adoption benefits — we are here to support their decisions,” the company said.
Nordstrom said it created a new travel benefit for employees who could not get abortions locally: “While we had reason to believe this ruling was coming, we recognize that this news still weighs heavily on many of us,” company leaders wrote in a message to staff.
Open Sea said it would cover travel for employee abortions. “We are heartbroken, and frustrated, and overwhelmed by the challenge ahead of us,” company leaders said in a message to staff. “We believe that access to safe and legal abortion is absolutely critical to keeping women and those with female-assigned reproductive systems healthy and empowered to make their own choices about their future, and to pursue their missions and ambitions.”
PricewaterhouseCoopers said its employees could apply for financial assistance for expenses associated with medical procedures.
“I know that some of you will think that I haven’t said enough in this note and that some of you will think that I’ve said too much,” said the firm’s chair in a message to staff this weekend. “What I hope you take away from it is that I care.”
Wells Fargo told its employees Monday that the firm would expand its existing travel benefits for medical coverage to include reimbursement for abortion travel “in accordance with applicable law.”
Don’t Ban Equality, a coalition of businesses, said more than 350 companies had signed its letter opposing restrictions on abortion access.