The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in late June, ending 50 years of federally backed abortion rights. Activists are up in arms, and several companies have stepped forward to ensure abortion access for U.S. employees. Some companies did so following the passage of restrictive laws in states such as Texas, while others continue to weigh in, including large employers such as Walmart — which is now expanding abortion coverage for its workers.
Walmart is the latest company to step forward and offer abortion coverage to employees, two months after Roe v. Wade was overturned. The retail giant, the largest private employer in the U.S., sent a memo Friday to its 1.6 million employees saying that its self-insured health-care plan will now cover abortion — but in limited cases: "when there is a health risk to the mother, rape or incest, ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage or lack of fetal viability." Further, Walmart said it will pay for travel costs for employees and their families who do not have access to legal abortion within 100 miles of their homes.
Mere hours after the U.S. Supreme Court did away with Roe vs. Wade, Nike released a statement assuring its employees that it would continue providing access to family planning benefits, including abortions. The company will cover employee expenses for travel and lodging if services aren’t readily available in their state.
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Disney said it will cover travel expenses for employees seeking family planning or reproductive care, including those who need to travel to another location to obtain an abortion. In Florida, where Disney employs about 80,000 workers, a 15-week abortion ban patterned after the Mississippi law at the center of the Supreme Court ruling is scheduled to go into effect July 1.
Grocery chain Kroger is picking up some of the travel expenses if employees have to travel out of state for abortion services. In a statement, a spokesperson for Kroger said, "We invest in the whole person with a comprehensive benefits package that includes quality, affordable health care and travel benefits up to $4,000 to facilitate access to quality care for several categories of medical treatments and a full range of reproductive health care services, including abortion and fertility treatments, for company-plan participants."
Tech-giant Microsoft said back in May that it would cover travel expenses for employees should they need to travel for abortion services or gender-affirming care. After the official overturning of Roe vs. Wade, the company reaffirmed its stance. A spokesperson for the company said, "Microsoft will continue to do everything we can under the law to support our employees and their enrolled dependents in accessing critical health care."
Netflix employees and their dependents have access to a $10,000 lifetime allowance to travel for health-care services including gender-affirming care, abortions, cancer treatments, and transplants. The company also reimburses any U.S. full-time employees who need to travel for abortions.
Alaska Airlines has also announced plans to continue reimbursing employees for any travel expenses they might incur from seeking out-of-state abortions, should those services be unavailable where they live.
JPMorgan Chase told its employees that if they need to travel out of state to receive a legal abortion, they would be reimbursed. “Our health care plans have historically covered travel benefits for certain covered services that would require travel," the financial-services giant said. "Beginning in July, we will expand this benefit to include all covered services that can only be obtained far from your home, which would include legal abortion.”
Starbucks is offering to cover travel expenses for employees seeking abortions, but it goes a step further: Starbucks now says it will also reimburse travel expenses for any employees who need gender-affirming surgeries, if they are unable to get them within 100 miles of their homes. The company's health insurance plans have covered gender reassignment surgeries since 2012, along with other gender-affirming procedures, according to CNBC.
Tesla has said it will cover travel expenses for employees who have to travel for out-of-state abortions. The electric-vehicle manufacturer moved its headquarters last year to Texas, where abortions performed beyond six weeks of pregnancy are banned. In its 2021 Impact Report, the company said that its health insurance and safety net programs have been expanded to include "travel and lodging support for those who may need to seek healthcare services that are unavailable in their home state."
Amazon has told staff that the company will pay up to $4,000 in travel expenses annually to cover non-life-threatening medical treatments, including abortions. The benefit is offered to all U.S. employees with Premera or Aetna health plans, but applies only if the procedure the employee is seeking isn't available within 100 miles.
The maker of Levi's said in a statement that employees can be reimbursed for travel outside their home state to get medical services, including abortions, if they are unable to get those services where they live. Part-time employees and others who aren’t part of the company’s benefits plan are also eligible for reimbursement.
The online review and recommendation site has said it will cover travel expenses for workers in states that have laws restricting abortion. Yelp instituted the policy after the passage of the Texas Heartbeat Act, which banned abortions after six weeks, but the company said it will apply to staff affected by “current or future action that restricts access to covered reproductive health care.”
Under a new policy, the bank will cover expenses for employees who have to travel out of state for an abortion. "In response to changes in reproductive health care laws in certain states in the U.S., beginning in 2022 we provide travel benefits to facilitate access to adequate resources," the company said in a regulatory filing.
The ride-sharing apps have said they are working with health-care providers to offer rides to clients who must travel out of state to get reproductive care — and that the companies will cover fines their drivers might get for providing the rides.
After the Texas Heartbeat Act became law in 2021, Apple CEO Tim Cook told employees that the company’s medical insurance plan would cover the cost of travel (if needed) as well as abortion treatment.
Following the changes to abortion access in Texas, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said the company would pay for any of its Texas-based employees to relocate out of the state if they chose.
The CEO of Match Group (which also owns Tinder, Plenty of Fish, and OKCupid), Shar Dubey, personally set up a fund to cover the cost of employee travel for abortion access. Dubey told employees, "I immigrated to America from India over 25 years ago and I have to say, as a Texas resident, I am shocked that I now live in a state where women's reproductive laws are more regressive than most of the world, including India.”
The Austin, Texas, dating app company created a fund to support “the reproductive rights of women and people across the gender spectrum who seek abortions in Texas,” according to a company Twitter post. The money goes to organizations such as Fund Texas Choice.
The tech company, which is based in Texas, told Wired that the company’s medical plan covers medical treatments received outside of the state, including abortions.
