Starbucks to cover abortion-related transportation costs

On Monday, Starbucks announced that the company would reimburse travel expenses for their employees who require abortions but cannot get them within 100 miles of their homes. Starbucks joins the small group of companies that have moved to protect employee abortion access.

Sara Kelly, the company's acting VP for partner resources, said that she was "deeply concerned" reading about the Supreme Court draft opinion that would strike down the 1973 abortion ruling. Ms. Kelly wrote in a memo to Starbucks employees, "I know this is weighing on many of you, so let me be clear upfront- regardless of what the Supreme Court ends up deciding, we will always ensure our partners have access to quality health care." 

Starbucks is now among a handful of companies including Yelp, Citigroup and Tesla that have announced plans to cover transportation costs for employees who are in need of abortions. Most companies and business leaders have however stayed quiet since the Supreme Court draft was leaked. Starbucks has 240,000 employees in the US and the company has not disclosed how many employees it has in Texas and other states that will ban abortions quickly if the Supreme Court overturns Roe. 

Source: The New York Times