After the Supreme Court of the United States on Friday overturned the historic Roe v Wade verdict and outlawed abortion across the country, several of the US’ most-recognised brands said they will pay for abortion-related travel by female employees.
The list of companies that have come forward to defend women’s rights include tech giants Meta (formerly Facebook, Inc.), Intel and Microsoft, and all have extended coverage of ‘out-of-state medical care’ to include reproductive services.
JPMorgan Chase & Co., the largest bank in the US, said it will pay for employees to travel to another state to obtain a legal abortion, Bloomberg said citing information sent to the bank’s staff members this month. This benefit will come into effect from July 1.
Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, among other companies, said it will reimburse travel expenses ‘to the extent permitted by law for employees who will need them to access out-of-state health care and reproductive services’.
Intel was quoted by Reuters as saying ‘our US healthcare options cover a wide range of medical treatments, including abortion where permitted’ and that company will ‘continue to provide resources for those who need to travel for safe and timely healthcare’.
Apple and Amazon have offered similar support for employees travelling to a different state for an abortion because of restrictions in their home state.
Starbucks said it will reimburse abortion travel expenses for employees enrolled in its health care plan if a legal provider isn’t available in their home state or within 100 miles.
| List of companies who will (and already used to) cover cost for travel undertaken by female employees for abortion |
| Apple |
| Meta Platforms Inc. |
| Walt Disney Co. |
| Microsoft Corp |
| Fraught Calculus |
| Citigroup Inc |
| Amazon |
| T-Mobile US Inc |
| Match Group Inc. |
| Yelp |
| Cigna Corp |
| Starbucks |
US states governed by Democrats have also offered support. The governors of California, Washington and Oregon on the US’ west coast issued a joint ‘multi-state commitment’ to work together to defend patients and care providers, the Associated Press reported.
