What Companies Can Do To Support Employees – Post Roe v. Wade Decision  

On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court announced their decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and some of Corporate America is taking an outspoken stance.  

Several companies have released statements in response to the court’s ruling to overturn federal abortion rights by reaffirming their commitment to helping employees secure health care services that may now require them to travel outside of their home state to secure. 

The leaked draft opinion of the Supreme Court’s pending decision in May positioned companies to begin creating policies that cover travel expenses for employees seeking abortions. Corporations including Meta, JPMorgan Chase, Starbucks, Tesla, Yelp, Airbnb, Microsoft, Netflix, Patagonia, Disney, Dick’s Sporting Goods, PayPal, Reddit, DoorDash, Conde’ Nast, Apple, Salesforce, and Levi Strauss & Co., are all beginning to offer some form of travel coverage in direct response to the announcement.  

A spokesperson from Meta confirmed to ABC News their plans to expand coverage, “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,” a spokesperson said. “We are in the process of assessing how best to do so given the legal complexities involved.” 

Beyond covering travel expenses for employees seeking abortions, companies are finding other ways to enhance their current healthcare benefits or seeking coverage outside of the offered health plans. These include:  

  • Increasing their employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts (HSA) funds for employees; 
  • Relief funds to pay for expenses for employees and dependents who need to travel to another state;
  • One-time bonuses to cover travel or procedural costs; 
  • Permitting paid time off for reproductive care; and  
  • Benefits to bail out employees who peacefully protest for reproductive justice.  

While not all companies chose to make public statements, some are clearly putting their commitment to assisting their employees into action via their swift policy changes. As of June 30, the following states have either banned abortion, restricted access or are awaiting the courts to settle cases regarding restrictions: 

  1. Alabama 
  1. Arizona 
  1. Arkansas 
  1. Florida 
  1. Georgia 
  1. Idaho 
  1. Kentucky 
  1. Louisiana 
  1. Mississippi 
  1. Missouri 
  1. North Dakota 
  1. Ohio 
  1. Oklahoma 
  1. South Carolina 
  1. South Dakota 
  1. Tennessee 
  1. Texas 
  1. Utah 
  1. West Virginia 
  1. Wisconsin 
  1. Wyoming 

The legal and political fallout due to overturning Roe v. Wade will be felt across the country for a long time to come. States now bear the responsibility of determining abortion access for their citizens, which leaves individuals scrambling and searching for answers.