Levi Strauss to reimburse abortion travel for workers

Could 4 (Reuters) - Levi Strauss & Co mentioned on Wednesday it would reimburse journey bills for its full- and part-time staff who need to journey to a different state for health care providers, together with abortions.

The apparel firm finest identified for its denims is the most recent U.S. firm to supply the benefit as numerous states clamp down on access to abortions.

And now, the U.S. Supreme Court appears to be like set to vote to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide, in response to a leaked initial draft majority opinion revealed by Politico on Monday. learn more

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"Given what's at stake, business leaders need to make their voices heard and act to guard the health and well-being of our staff. That means protecting reproductive rights," the company mentioned in an announcement.

Different companies have pledged to offer similar help to their U.S. workers who have to journey out of states like Texas and Oklahoma which have restricted entry to abortion providers.

Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), the second-largest U.S. non-public employer, on Monday told employees it should pay as much as $4,000 in journey expenses yearly for non-life threatening medical therapies, among them elective abortions. learn more

Crowd-sourced evaluation platform Yelp, Inc (YELP.N) mentioned it should start in May to cowl expenses for its employees and their dependents who have to travel to a different state for abortion providers. learn more

One of many main Hollywood expertise agencies, UTA, mentioned it could reimburse travel bills associated to receiving women's reproductive health providers that aren't accessible in an employee's state of residence.

"We’re doing this to support the precise to decide on that has been a bedrock of settled legislation for almost half a century," Jeremy Zimmer, UTA's chief executive, wrote in a staff memo Wednesday that was seen by Reuters.

Citigroup Inc (C.N) grew to become in March the first main U.S. financial institution to make an analogous commitment. learn more

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Reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo; Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Editing by Anna Driver, Alexandra Hudson, Kirsten Donovan

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