Story at a glance
- Yelp announced it would pay for its employees’ travel expenses if they must travel out of state for an abortion.
- The move was inspired after Texas passed a law that bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
- Global bank Citigroup made a similar pledge to pay for employees’ travel expenses.
As the number of states passing restrictive abortion laws continues to rise, more and more businesses are attempting to counter those actions by offering to pay for employees’ travel expenses if they must go out of state to obtain an abortion.
The crowd-sourced online review platform Yelp announced on Tuesday it would cover travel expenses incurred for all 4,000 of its employees that must travel out of state for abortions, according to The Associated Press (AP). The benefit will cover all 4,000 employees of Yelp located across the country. It’s likely to have the biggest impact in states like Texas, which passed a law, known as the “fetal heartbeat bill,” which bans abortions within the state after six weeks of pregnancy.
Texas is not alone, with Oklahoma also enacting a bill that makes abortions illegal with the only exception being if the procedure will save the life of the mother.
Arizona legislators also passed a bill that would ban doctors from performing an abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
“We’ve long been a strong advocate for equality in the workplace, and believe that gender equality cannot be achieved if women’s healthcare rights are restricted,” said Miriam Warren, Yelp’s chief diversity officer, to the AP.
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Yelp joins a growing number of businesses that are taking public stances on the matter of abortion, including banking giant Citigroup. In a letter to stockholders last month, the bank said it would provide travel benefits to its employees that live in states with restrictive reproductive health care laws to access abortion clinics across the country.
That move by Citigroup prompted dozens of lawmakers on Capitol Hill to demand the chamber drop Citigroup as one of its providers for lawmakers’ credit cards. House Representative Mike Johnson (R-La.) led that move, citing in a statement that “this is an unfortunate move by Citi that will lead to the circumvention of state laws and unfettered access to elective abortions.”
Corporate America’s response to restrictive abortion laws began last year, starting after Texas passed its abortion law in September.
Mobile dating app Bumble tweeted shortly after Texas passed its abortion bill that the company created a relief fund supporting reproductive rights of women and people across the gender spectrum who seek abortions in Texas.
“Bumble is a women-founded and women-led, and from day one we’ve stood up for the most vulnerable. We’ll keep fighting against regressive laws like #SB8,” tweeted Bumble’s Twitter account.
Ride-hailing app Lyft published similar sentiments following the passage of Texas’ abortion law, with CEO Logan Green tweeting that Lyft had created a Driver Legal Defense Fund to cover 100 percent of any legal fees drivers incurred if sued under Texas’ abortion law while driving on their platform.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi replied in agreement — saying Uber will also cover legal fees for its drivers.
Green went on to say that Lyft would also be donating $1 million to Planned Parenthood, “to ensure that transportation is never a barrier to healthcare access. We encourage other companies to join us.”
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