In the war for equal rights and human dignity, capitalism is not our friend. By its nature, it cannot be, since in the end that system will always fight to protect itself and its own economic interests above all else. However, if businesses decide they want to use some of their money to help along the way, well, that’s just fine.
In the hours since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, a number of large companies have announced that they would fund travel for employees in states where abortion is banned, in order to go to states where it’s still legal.
The CEO of DICK’S Sporting Goods announced today that the company would be providing up to $4000 in expense reimbursements to employees and their families needing to travel for abortion care.
The CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods on LinkedIn pic.twitter.com/maqYINYSUQ
— Matt Lindner (@mattlindner) June 24, 2022
That’s far from the only company making this sort of pledge. Tech giant Yelp has made a similar commitment, telling Business Insider: “This ruling puts women’s health in jeopardy, denies them their human rights, and threatens to dismantle the progress we’ve made toward gender equality in the workplaces since Roe. Business leaders must step up to support the health and safety of their employees by speaking out against the wave of abortion bans that will be triggered as a result of this decision, and call on Congress to codify Roe into law.”
Since the leaked draft opinion, Yelp has joined other companies including Citi, Netflix, and Tesla have said they will cover travel costs for workers seeking abortions. Since announcing the benefit, [Yelp’s chief diversity officer Miriam] Warren said other companies have reached out with questions on how they could mimic it.
“Many companies are reaching out about this issue,” she previously said. “This shows us that companies, big and small, and across a number of industries, are concerned about this issue and they also want to do something to safeguard their employees.”
While I’m sure some of these CEOs are decent people, this is, in the end, an economic decision, not a moral one. The majority of Americans across party lines, support abortion access on some level and do not want Roe overturned. This is an undeniably sound economic investment for these businesses.
Dick’s Sporting Goods stock soars, after CEO says help will be provided for those needing to travel for legal abortions https://t.co/2NyS3PGhF9
— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) June 24, 2022
It’s also important to note that this is a very temporary solution to a massive problem. While there are many states where abortion is and is likely to remain legal, it is very likely that anti-abortion state legislatures will soon start trying to ban interstate travel for the purposes of seeking an abortion. Many people also aren’t aware that medicated abortion is safe and widely available, even through the mail, requiring no travel. (Although that, too is certainly going to come under attack.) INeedanA.com is a great resource for more information (that also doesn’t store tracking data).
But for now, if these businesses are going to help people get necessary access to abortion care, please have at it.
(image: Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
