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Amazon announces financial benefits for women seeking abortions
Amazon will reimburse employees in the United States who need to travel for a variety of medical treatments, including employees who intend to have an abortion.
The company sent a message to its employees saying it would pay up to $4,000 per year in travel expenses for medical treatments available around the workplace.
It was not the first company to do so. Recently, several other US companies have announced plans that guarantee access to abortion for their employees.
The move comes amid mounting restrictions on the process across the country.
Amazon’s new benefits will be effective retroactively from January 1 this year.
According to an announcement made by Reuters news agency, the new benefits will apply to treatments that are not available within a 161 km radius of an employee’s home and for which online care options are not available.
An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the expansion of benefits to a BBC News report, saying it includes bariatric care, oncology, congenital anomalies up to 24 months after the baby is born, mental health treatment and inpatient services for problematic use. Medicines.
With 1.1 million full-time and part-time employees, Amazon is one of the largest private employers in the United States. It employs people nationwide—mostly in California, Texas, and Washington state, the company’s global headquarters.
This benefit will be available to all employees enrolled in two different health plans offered by the company, including those who work in offices or warehouses.
The company also offers up to $10,000 for immediate, life-threatening medical treatment.
Credit, Getty Images
Employees will get up to BRL 50,800 for emergency medical treatment
legal battle
While the expansion of Amazon’s benefits is not specifically aimed at enabling access to abortion, it comes at a time when several GOP-led state governments passed laws restricting access to abortion in their jurisdictions. Huh.
Next month, the now-conservative US Supreme Court will also rule on a case that could overturn the Roe v Wade, a 1973 court decision that legalized abortion in the United States.
If the law is repealed, each US state could be allowed to set its own rules on abortion. If this happens, it is estimated that more than 20 states will somehow limit care for the procedure or, in most cases, ban abortion.
In Texas — which has one of the strictest abortion laws in the country and bans the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy — a recent study found that about 1,400 women travel out of state for an abortion each month.
Companies such as Yelp and Citigroup recently said they would reimburse employees who travel to circumvent local restrictions on abortion.
Citigroup said the policy was “in response to changes to reproductive health laws in some states.”
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