Starbucks said it would reimburse employees for travel expenses incurred while seeking an out-of-state abortion or gender-affirming surgery.
The Seattle-based coffee chain is part of a growing list of Fortune 500 companies, which include Tesla, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple and Salesforce, that are offering benefits to workers who can’t get immediate access to processes.
A Starbucks spokesperson told The Post that employees who are unable to access abortion services or gender-affirming care within 100 miles of their home will have their travel expenses covered by the company.
According to the company, this benefit will also be extended to dependents who are covered by Starbucks’ health plan.
“Like many of you, I am deeply concerned by the draft Supreme Court opinion concerning the constitutional right to abortion, first published by Roe v. Wade,” Sarah Kelly, acting executive vice president of Starbucks, told employees in an email. Was established.”
She added that the company will “always ensure that our partners (employees) have access to quality healthcare. And when actions affect your access to healthcare, we will work to make sure you feel supported.” “
Starbucks and other firms that help women get abortions could potentially violate the law in some states.
Earlier this month, online news site Politico published a leaked draft of a Supreme Court ruling that Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.
The draft opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, said Roe was “extremely wrong and deeply damaging”. A decision on the case is expected sometime this summer.
If the High Court reverses Roe, it would lead to a flood of laws banning abortions in Republican-majority states such as Texas, Oklahoma, Florida and Idaho.
Texas has introduced legislation that would expand liability for abortion clinics, doctors, and other entities that assist women in terminating their pregnancies. Other states are considering similar laws.
Meanwhile, other companies have chosen to remain silent on the issue of abortion. Walmart, American Airlines, The Walt Disney Company, Home Depot, CVS and dozens of others have declined to comment.
Disney angered conservatives across the country last month when it succumbed to pressure from employees and publicly spoke out in opposition to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, which would allow schools to limit gender and gender to children before fourth grade. The teaching of sexual identity was prohibited.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the GOP-dominated state legislature responded by removing Disney from its self-governing status and giving it broader autonomy over theme parks in and around Orlando.
,
