Roe V. Wade Issue Results in Discussion of Benefit Issues

The media has been full of information about a leaked draft of a majority opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court, suggesting that the Court will overturn Roe v. Wade, the 50-year-old decision that makes abortion a constitutional right until the fetus becomes viable.  Should this opinion be issued, the result is that state law will take precedence.  Ironically, this result is the same position that had been advocated by then Senator Biden in his early years in the U.S. Senate.

Because state law will govern, it appears that about half of the states will place significant restrictions on abortion, while the other half will allow potentially more abortions than under the existing law.  The result is that workers in states banning or severely limiting abortions may wish to travel to other states to have abortions performed.  In response, some large corporations announced changes in their benefits to cover the cost of employees traveling to get abortions in other states.  Some of the large corporations announcing such moves include Microsoft, Amazon, CitiGroup, Lyft, and Uber.  Other large corporations are reportedly debating whether to offer similar benefits. 

This is part of our June 2022 Newsletter.

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