US employers’ support for workers’ abortion care leaves serious gaps

theguardian.com:

As America faces the prospect of losing abortion rights in several dozen states some major companies have publicly announced plans to cover expenses for employees to get abortions in other states.

But many other US employers have not made such offers and workers and unions are also pointing to serious gaps in those that have made abortion services commitments, saying they will not cover all workers. This means that the impact of the US supreme court decision to overturn Roe v Wade and end federal abortion rights will probably be even more pronounced.

In the US more than156 million Americans rely on health insurance coverage sponsored by their employers. Among the corporations to announce help with abortion service for employees are Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JP Morgan, Chobani, Starbucks, Yelp, Levi’s, Disney, Macy’s, H&M, Nordstrom, Nike, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Reddit, Tesla, Uber, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple and others.

But there are often serious limitations in these benefits, such as Starbucks suggesting they will not provide this benefit to unionized employees and only for employees who can afford or are eligible to be enrolled in their healthcare plan. Many of the corporations to announce these benefits have also donated to Republican elected officials or groups who are legislating abortion bans and restrictions.

Some of the largest employers in the US, particularly ones that pay low wages, including fast-food corporations such as McDonald’s, and the largest employer in the US, Walmart, have not announced these benefits. The majority of US employers, 60% according to a May 2022 survey conducted by the consultancy group Gartner, do not plan to make any changes in the wake of the Dobbs decision.

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