More employers are taking steps to show that supporting employees in abortion care is a workplace issue.
Yelp is the latest company to announce it will cover costs for employees and their spouses who must travel out of state to access abortion care, the New York Times reports, in response to the Texas law that bans the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy.
Under the policy, Yelp employees will submit travel receipts directly to their health insurance company for reimbursement “so no one else at Yelp is ever going to know who is accessing this, or how or when,” Miriam Warren, the company’s chief diversity officer, told the Times.
Yelp has more than 4,000 employees, with 200 in Texas, though the company says the benefit extends to workers in other states with restricted abortion access. On Tuesday, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill into law that makes it a felony to perform an abortion, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine, in a continued effort among Republican-led states to scale back abortion rights.
Company policies in support of abortion access are welcome but a “small drop in the bucket,” says Leila Abolfazli, the director of federal reproductive rights for the National Women’s Law Center.
“It’s important for companies to recognize that abortion is among the health care their workers may need,” Abolfazli says. “The health and well-being of workers is essential to any company in order to attract workers, retain workers and show you’re...
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