Amazon Rolls Out Abortion-Travel Benefit

On the same day that a Supreme Court opinion was leaked, suggesting Roe v. Wade may be overturned, Amazon told staff that it would pay up to $4,000 in travel expenses annually for abortion and other non-life threatening medical treatments. In a Monday memo obtained by Reuters, Amazon said the new benefit would cover all corporate and warehouse employees and dependents enrolled in company health plans who are unable to receive non-life threatening medical treatments within 100 miles of their home and where virtual care is not possible.

About two dozen US states have laws poised to limit abortion access if Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide, is overturned. But the benefit applies not just to abortion but also to cardiology, cellular gene therapies, and care for substance-abuse disorders, per USA Today. Citigroup and Yelp previously announced similar benefits covering their 220,000 and 4,000 employees, respectively. Amazon, the second-largest US private employer, employs some 1.1 million people in the US. "Separately, Amazon offers up to $10,000 in annual travel reimbursements for life-threatening issues," per Reuters. (More Amazon stories.)