Well-known companies including Amazon, Tesla, and Apple are among a growing list employers offering to pay travel expenses for employees who need to go out of state for an abortion.
This trend comes in light of last week’s leak of a draft opinion written by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito foreshadowing the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a decision that made abortion a constitutional right in America.
Tesla relocated to Texas, a state that recently banned abortions after a heartbeat is detected, last December from California, a state that now financially helps its residents get an abortion.
The $1 trillion company expanded their “Safety Net program and health insurance” in 2021 to include travel and lodging support for employees who “may need to seek healthcare services that are unavailable in their home state (pg. 31),” according to the “Tesla 2021 Impact Report,” which the company tweeted last Friday.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded to Texas’ abortion law last year, saying, “In general, I believe government should rarely impose its will upon the people, and, when doing so, should aspire to maximize their cumulative happiness. That said, I would prefer to stay out of politics.”
Data released by Texas in February 2022 shared that since the enacting of the state’s Senate Bill 8, also known as the “Heartbeat Ban,” Texas has saved an estimated 15,000 children from abortion.
RELATED: Texas Abortion Ban Is Saving 100 Unborn Lives per Day, According to New Data
Last Wednesday, Christian Florida Senator Marco Rubio introduced a bill titled “No Tax Breaks for Radical Corporate Activism Act,” which would prohibit employers like Tesla, from receiving tax breaks on costs relating to their employees’ abortion travel, as well as any “gender affirming care” for a child of an employees.
The same day the leaked draft opinion was released by Politico, Reuters reported that Amazon, the second largest private in the U.S., told its employees that the company would cover up to $4,000 in travel expenses annually for non-life threatening medical treatments, which include abortions. The technology company founded by Jeff Bezos covers up to $10,000 in annual travel reimbursements for an employee facing a life-threatening issue.
