In a letter posted Monday to the Starbucks website from Sara Kelly, the acting Executive Vice President of Partner Resources, the Seattle coffee company said it would cover travel for U.S. employees to abortion and gender-affirming procedures if they aren’t within 100 miles of their home.
“I’m deeply concerned by the draft Supreme Court opinion related to the constitutional right to abortion that was first established by Roe v. Wade. I know this is weighing on many of you, so let me be clear up front – regardless of what the Supreme Court ends up deciding, we will always ensure our partners have access to quality healthcare,” Kelly said in the document.
“Regardless of where you live or what you believe, partners enrolled in Starbucks healthcare will now be offered reimbursement for eligible travel expenses when accessing abortion or gender-affirming procedures when those services are not available within 100 miles of a partner’s home. This benefit will also apply to dependents of partners enrolled in Starbucks healthcare.”
Starbucks, which has around 240,000 employees, is the latest company to respond to the leaked draft opinion from the Supreme Court that revealed their plan to rescind the nationwide right to abortion. Amazon is also providing up to $4,000 in similar expenses for abortion and gender-confirming procedures for employees.
Earlier this month, Tesla also pledged to cover travel expenses for employees seeking abortions that were out-of-state. Starbucks recently faced backlash for raising wages and providing benefits for staff who worked at its non-union stores.
However, the travel benefit is available to employees under the company’s health care plan regardless if they work in unionized stores. Kelly ended the letter by saying Starbucks is currently working on the timing and rollout of the reimbursement but that updates will be coming soon.