A string of major companies such as Netflix and Disney have promised their employees to support them for out-of-state travel following The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, setting back 50 years of federal abortion rights.
As previously reported, the ruling was made on Friday. Since there is now no federal protection in place, it’s believed that more than half of U.S. states may eventually opt to make abortion fully illegal. But according to The Hollywood Reporter, the aforementioned companies, along with Paramount, Comcast, WME, CAA, and UTA, are among firms who have told their employees about their revised healthcare policies moving forward.
Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Netflix, Disney, Paramount, and Comcast vow to cover travel costs for employees wishing to abort but live in a state where abortion is banned. pic.twitter.com/cuaaf3iKg6
— Pop Base (@PopBase) June 24, 2022
For full-time U.S. employees over at Netflix, the streaming giant says it is offering a $10,000 lifetime allowance for “travel reimbursement for cancer treatment, transplants, gender-affirming care, or abortion.” Disney, too, weighed in with their policy, telling staff that they will have a benefit that covers travel to another location for care, which will include pregnancy-related decisions.
Bob Bakish, who is the CEO of Paramount, echoed similar words in a separate statement on how the company plans to tackle the shocking ruling and how its employees will be covered under its healthcare, adding, “In the face of this uncertainty, we want to be very clear about what will not change at Paramount.” The company’s policy will include costs of travel-related expenses “if the covered health service, such as abortion, is prohibited in your area.”
Earlier today, the Supreme Court stunned the nation with its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, renouncing the 1973 decision in the draft opinion.
“The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any Constitutional provision … It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote.
“The majority would allow States to ban abortion from conception onward because it does not think forced childbirth at all implicates a woman’s rights to equality and freedom. Today’s Court, that is, does not think there is anything of constitutional significance attached to a woman’s control of her body and the path of her life.”
Pop star Taylor Swift is one of many celebrities who has reacted to the ruling, telling fans, “I’m absolutely terrified that this is where we are – that after so many decades of people fighting for women’s rights to their own bodies, today’s decision has stripped us of that.”