Yahoo Finance

BlackRock joins Wall Street firms in covering employees' abortion travel costs: Internal memo

Alexandra Semenova · Reporter
Mon, June 27, 2022, 7:55 PM

BlackRock (BLK), the world’s largest asset manager, is set to expand its health care plan to cover travel expenses for U.S. employees seeking abortion services, per an internal memo obtained exclusively by Yahoo Finance. ... The company joins a growing docket of firms on Wall Street making similar commitments following Friday's Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

“Through company-sponsored health insurance, we have long provided reproductive health care services, including coverage for birth control and abortion or miscarriage care,” BlackRock Global Head of Human resources Manish Mehta wrote in an email to staff seen by Yahoo Finance Monday evening. ... “Effective July 1, our health plan will reimburse for necessary travel expenses incurred for reproductive services, as we do for other specialized care, such as transplants, cancer treatment, and joint replacement.”

Earlier on Monday, Jefferies Financial Group (JEF) and Wells Fargo (WFC) also each said in communications to staff internally they will cover travel expenses for employees seeking an abortion outside of states that have banned or restricted the procedure. ... "Jefferies will, of course, join other businesses around the U.S. that will cover any employee-partner’s costs should she decide to voluntarily terminate a pregnancy and be forced to do so in a state other than the one in which she lives,” Chief Executive Officer Rich Handler and President Brian Friedman said in a statement. ... Additionally, Handler and Friedman vowed to personally donate a combined $1 million to charities that "champion women's rights."

Wells Fargo said specifically that it will expand its travel benefit to include “reimbursement of transportation and lodging costs for legal abortion-related services” starting July 1. ... JPMorgan (JPM) and Goldman Sachs (GS) last week announced similar measures in the aftermath of Friday's decision.

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