In response to the United States Supreme Court's landmark decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which effectively overturned Roe v. Wade after almost 50 years of precedent, major Hollywood studios have stated their intentions to pay for employees in "red" states to travel for safe and legal abortions.
As shared on Twitter by Matthew Belloni of Puck News, companies like Amazon, Netflix, Comcast, Warner Bros. Discovery, Sony and Paramount Global will reimburse travel expenses for employees who wish to safely terminate a pregnancy but are located in states that ban abortions.
According to this report, Netflix's health plan in the United States has been updated to cover travel expenses for "cancer treatment, transplants, gender-affirming care, or abortion." The studio is also offering a $10,000 benefit per service for every employee or dependent that may need it. As for studios like Paramount, a memo sent to employees following the Supreme Court's ruling on June 24 confirmed that the studio would provide similar reimbursements to employees and their dependents.
The memo highlighted the various benefits offered by Paramount, notably "reproductive healthcare through company-sponsored health insurance, including coverage for birth control, elective abortion care, miscarriage care and certain related travel expenses if the covered health service, such as abortion, is prohibited in your area." Other reproductive health benefits offered by Paramount include coverage for IFV, reimbursement for adoption or surrogacy services and up to 18 weeks of parental leave "for a delivering parent."
As for companies like Walt Disney Studios, it has been confirmed that Disney employees seeking abortions will also receive reimbursements for travel expenses. Disney, which has a bulk of employees based in Florida, faced significant backlash earlier this year over its donations to politicians behind the state's controversial Parental Rights in Education law. Nicknamed the "Don't Say Gay Bill," the law effectively banned "classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in certain grade levels." However, after Disney publically denounced the bill, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation in April that effectively repealed Walt Disney World Resort's status as a special district.
The Supreme Court's decision regarding Roe v. Wade comes after an opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito was leaked in May. The opinion suggested the Supreme Court's intention to overturn the landmark ruling, which has made safe and legal abortions a federal right in the United States since 1973.
Source: Twitter