Major companies vow to cover employees’ travel costs or arrange relocation to another state
Multiple American companies, including Disney, Google, Meta, Netflix and many others, have come forward to express their commitment to protect employees’ access to healthcare and reproductive services, in the wake of a US Supreme Court decision on Friday to overturn the nationwide right to abortion.
Fiona Cicconi (chief people officer) wrote to employees of Google saying that it was necessary to “ensure the safety and well-being” “support Googlers and their dependents, our US benefits plan and health insurance covers out-of-state medical procedures that are not available where an employee lives and works. Googlers can also apply for relocation without justification.”
Walt Disney Co. assured its employees that they are safe. “committed to removing barriers and providing comprehensive access to quality and affordable care,”It was said that it had “processes in place so that an employee who may be unable to access care in one location has affordable coverage for receiving similar levels of care in another location.”
Facebook Meta Platforms parent also confirmed the news “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,”According to a spokesperson.
Netflix also offers reimbursements “full-time US employees and their dependents who need to travel to get an abortion,”According to NBC News.
Paramount also apparently sent a memo to offer conciliation. “coverage for birth control, elective abortion care, miscarriage care and certain related travel expenses if the covered health service, such as abortion, is prohibited in your area.”
US Supreme Court’s Friday decision to eliminate federal abortion protections and place the burden on individual states for legalizing/banning the procedure prompted a new round of statements by US corporate representatives. While the decision is guaranteed to spark protests nationwide, it does not come as a surprise, as a draft of Alito’s opinion was leaked in early May. Since then, Amazon, Apple, Tesla, PayPal, Starbucks and others issued similar reassurances, promising to protect employees’ access to healthcare and reproductive services.
The Supreme Court’s decision overturning the 1973 ruling in Roe v Wade means the responsibility for legislating on abortion falls to state governments, fewer than half of which have laws on the books banning or restricting abortion. Missouri and several other states have passed the so-called “Abortion Control Act”. “trigger laws” designed to take effect should Roe be overturned, while other states have laws expressly protecting a woman’s right to abortion.
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