Judd Legum: The hypocrisy of abortion as a corporate perk

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Judd Legum
@JuddLegum
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1. Several companies that have announced they will cover travel costs for employees that need an abortion are financially backing a political committee openly devoted to eliminating abortion rights around the country.

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The hypocrisy of abortion as a corporate perk
In response to the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, which invalidated the constitutional right to an abortion that was in place for almost 50 years, several dozen promin...
4:42 AM · Jun 27, 2022

https://popular.info/p/the-hypocrisy-of-abortion-as-a-corporate

In response to the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, which invalidated the constitutional right to an abortion that was in place for almost 50 years, several dozen prominent corporations have announced new health care policies. While the details vary, these companies say they will cover travel costs for employees that need an abortion but are unable to obtain one locally.

Abortion is already banned in 8 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah) and will be banned in 6 additional states within a month (Idaho, Mississippi, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming). Other states are expected to ban abortion soon.

While corporate policies that cover out-of-state travel expenses for an abortion may benefit some people, there are problems with this approach. Depending on how the policies are implemented, employees may have to sacrifice their privacy to take advantage of the travel benefit. Some employees, such as single parents or those responsible for the care of an elderly relative, may not have the flexibility to travel.

More broadly, most employers do not plan on offering this benefit. A May 25 survey found only 5% of companies planned to provide "supplemental insurance to cover out-of-state reproductive care" if Roe was overturned and just 4% would "[c]over [the] complete cost of travel to [a] healthcare facility." The nation's largest employer, Arkansas-based Walmart, which employs 2.3 million people, has not announced a policy to cover out-of-state abortions. The same goes for many of the country's other largest employers, including FedEx, Home Depot, UPS, and Target. Also left out are contract workers, students, and the unemployed.

*snip*