Yelp will pay for employees' abortion travel expenses
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Yelp announced today that it will now pay travel expenses for employees who need abortion and reproductive care.
Why it matters: The online review site's announcement comes nearly a month after Citigroup announced a similar policy. The company joins a handful of other employers, like Bumble and Match, who have publicly made clear where they stand on the issue of abortion access ahead of an upcoming Supreme Court ruling, which could roll back Roe v. Wade.
- “We’ve long been a strong advocate for equality in the workplace and believe that gender equality cannot be achieved if women’s healthcare rights are restricted," said Yelp's chief diversity officer, Miriam Warren, in a statement.
How it works: Yelp said its health insurance already covered abortion care. The new policy will allow employees to bill their health insurer directly for travel costs if they need to leave their state to access care; also allowing for some measure of employee privacy.
Zoom out: Yelp emphasized that it's a remote-first company, which makes a policy like this impactful for employees in states like Texas and Oklahoma, which severely restricted abortion rights.
Our thought bubble: These kinds of policies will likely become more common among certain white-collar employers and be helpful to professional women seeking abortions. But the low-income women who often struggle to afford and access care will largely be left behind, in areas where abortion laws block access.
