Starbucks announced on Monday that it would reimburse travel expenses for employees who need abortions and cannot get them within 100 miles of their homes, joining a small group of companies that have moved to protect employee abortion access.
Sara Kelly, the company's acting vice president for partner resources, said she was deeply concerned that the Supreme Court would strike down the 1973 abortion ruling.
Regardless of what the Supreme Court decides, we will always ensure our partners have access to quality health care.
Several companies, including Starbucks, have announced plans to cover transportation costs for employees in need of abortions. Since the Supreme Court's draft opinion was leaked, most companies and business leaders have stayed quiet.
The Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights, found that the average distance to an abortion provider would increase if the law was overturned.
Starbucks has 240,000 employees in the United States. The company wouldn't say how many employees it has in Texas and other states that will ban abortions if the Supreme Court overturns the case.
Starbucks decided to cover travel costs for employees to get abortions, as well as insurance coverage for gender-affirming care and costs associated with fertility treatments, in addition to its already expansive health care benefits. The company said on Monday that it would begin to cover travel expenses for employees who can't get it near their homes because of anti-trans legislation.
Starbucks customers and workers tend to be more liberal, something that experts think has contributed to the growing union drive at more than 250 stores.
Starbucks doesn't know when the travel reimbursements for abortions will take effect.
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