While the Supreme Court has yet to formally rule on Roe v. Wade,Amazon is already taking steps to assist employees who opt for the procedure.
The retailer will reimburse employees up to $4,000 per year when they’re forced to travel over 100 miles to obtain an abortion or other medical treatments, according to a report on Reuters. The announcement was made before the leaked draft Supreme Court opinion published by Politico on Monday evening.
Amazon, in an email to workers, said any medical treatments that could not be obtained within 100 miles of home, including for reproductive health issues, are eligible for reimbursement. Citigroup and Yelp have similar policies in place, which were made as various states have restricted women’s access to abortions.
Lyft and Uber have previously vowed to cover legal fees for drivers sued under a Texas law that would let U.S. Citizens sue abortion clinics, health care workers, and, potentially, drivers of ride-hailing services who provide women with rides to abortion clinics. And cloud computing company Salesforce, which has offices in Austin and Dallas, said it would help employees living in Texas to relocate if they wanted to.
Last year, dating sites Match and Bumble also announced they would create funds to help employees and their dependents who need to seek care outside of Texas.
The Amazon policy is retroactive from Jan. 1 and also covers long-term health issues as well as substance abuse disorders.
The U.S. Supreme Court is due to rule on the Mississippi abortion law that challenges Roe v. Wade by the end of June. If the court does send the matter back to the states, as the leaked draft implies, roughly two dozen states are prepared to limit or prohibit abortion access in short order.
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