A growing number of corporate American organizations are providing travel funding for employees who need abortion – sometimes across state lines – and sometimes for dependents of employees. This development came after the Supreme Court on Friday overturned Roe vs Wade, making it illegal for many people to procure a needed abortion and leaving it to states to make their own abortion laws.
The legal decision reverses a 50-year-old law that gives every American the right to have an abortion. The latest ruling is seen as a threat to the integrity of reproductive health across the United States. With the ruling, many states are free to ban abortion to the extent they deem fit, forcing many people to travel to states where abortion remains legal to terminate unwanted pregnancies.
Based on the need to travel across state boundaries to procure abortion, and the increased cost of the exercise, the only way many people can access the service is through benefit packages from their employers. Many business organizations are afraid that banning abortion will impact employee service and talent retention, hence their willingness to assist their staffers to obtain the service.
Some companies are also donating to Planned Parenthood and Fund Texas Choice, among other organizations that support women’s rights. Below are some large corporations who have chosen to bear the financial costs of employees’ travels to other states and associated service charges:
· Microsoft
· Apple
· Meta
· Yelp
· Disney
· Uber
· Netflix
· Bumble
· Match Group
· Box.com
· Levi Strauss
· Comcast-NBC Universal
· Warner Bros Discovery
· JPMorgan Chase
· Nike
· Starbucks
· Dick’s Sporting Goods
· Kroger
· Alaska Airlines
· Goldman Sachs
· Zillow
Although abortion is purely a political and health issue, many companies are being pressurized by employees, customers, and investors to weigh in on the matter and stand for women’s rights.
“This ruling puts women’s health in jeopardy, denies them their human rights, and threatens to dismantle the progress we’ve made toward gender equality in the workplaces since Roe,” said Jeremy Stoppelman, co-founder of Yelp. “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.”