Retail giant Amazon has announced that it will pay its US staff travel expenses for an abortion if the procedure requires them to travel further than 100 miles from their home.
Reuters reports that Amazon told its staff that it would reimburse travel expenses for any of its staff travelling more than a hundred miles for an abortion.
In a message to its staff, the company said it would pay up to $4,000 (£3,201) in travel expenses each year for medical interventions including abortion. Amazon’s new scheme will apply retroactively from the beginning of this year.
The president of pro-life group Live Action, Lila Rose, called Amazon out for the new policy. She said it was a way for Amazon to avoid paying maternity fees and get more work out of its employees.
She tweeted: “The ultimate ‘F U’ any boss can give their female employees: I will literally pay 4k for you to kill your child so I don’t need to pay for maternity leave & so you can work extra long hours for me. Extraordinarily gross, @JeffBezos. @amazon”.
This move comes at the same time as a Supreme Court opinion was leaked indicating that abortion law would become a matter for states to decide.
Citigroup, Yelp, and Levi Strauss all reimburse travel for abortion
Over the last few months, a number of other large companies have announced that they will also cover travel costs for abortions for their staff. The bank, Citigroup, announced in March that it would commit to covering employees’ travel costs if they wish to leave their state to have an abortion. Citigroup said the policy was “in response to changes in… [abortion] laws in certain states”.
The review company, Yelp, announced that it would be doing the same.
In September, the dating app, Bumble, announced that it would create a fund for women “who seek abortions in Texas”. In the same month, ride-sharing rivals, Uber and Lyft, each announced that they would create legal defence funds for drivers who might be sued under the Texas law for driving a woman to have an abortion.
Right To Life UK spokesperson, Catherine Robinson, said:
“There has been no announcement here from Amazon of any new support for women who are pregnant, just up to £4,000 for travel for an abortion. This doesn’t seem to promote “choice” but rather encourages abortion over keeping a baby”.
“Pro-lifers should take note of these companies, take their business elsewhere, and let them know why.
Amazon is one of the largest retailers on the planet and it is extremely disappointing that it chooses to use its vast wealth to create misery rather than to help alleviate it”.