Dive Brief:
- Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are considering covering travel expenses for employees seeking out-of-state abortions, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing anonymous sources.
- Bank of America is also weighing such a policy, CEO Brian Moynihan told CBS on Wednesday, adding his company will have a discussion on the "tough issue."
- Internal discussions around abortion policies at the nation’s largest banks come as a leaked draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade has ignited a political firestorm.
Dive Insight:
The Supreme Court draft, which was obtained and published by Politico on Monday, has pushed some corporations to discuss covering abortion-related travel expenses in the event that Roe v. Wade is overturned, leaving it up to individual states to decide their own laws around the procedure.
Goldman is concerned the decision to implement a travel policy for employees seeking abortions would upset conservative politicians, Bloomberg reported.
Both JPMorgan and Goldman declined Bloomberg’s requests for comment.
Bank of America has gathered a team of employees to discuss what it can do if Roe v. Wade is struck down, Moynihan said on "CBS Mornings".
“It's the settled law of the land. We believe people should have that access," he said, adding his opinion does not reflect that of all of Bank of America's employees. "With all things like this, we look at what our team needs from us. I could have a personal point of view, but that's not what we do.”
Moynihan also noted the Supreme Court draft is subject to change.
"First of all, the decision has to come down," he said. "And the leak and everything that you guys have been covering is tragic, in a sense."
Some companies, including New York City-based Citi, already cover travel costs for employees seeking out-of-state abortions, policies put in place as some states have instituted stricter abortion laws in recent months.
The bank announced in March that it will cover travel costs, including airfare and hotel expenses for employees seeking abortions, saying the move is in “response to changes in reproductive healthcare laws in certain states in the U.S.”
The policy has elicited pushback from Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate, who have called for their respective chambers to end their contractual relationships with the bank.
“This is an unfortunate move by Citi that will lead to the circumvention of state laws and unfettered access to elective abortions,” House Republicans wrote in a letter to the chamber’s chief administrator last month. “It has long been the policy of our legislative branch of government that taxpayer dollars not be used to fund abortion.”
Senate Republicans made similar demands last week, calling the bank’s policy “abortion tourism.”
The issue trickled into Citi’s annual general meeting, where the bank received 13 questions related to the travel policy.
In response to a shareholder who called the policy a “gross misuse of funds,” Citi CEO Jane Fraser said the bank’s decision to cover travel costs for abortion is a long-standing company policy, and not a political statement.
“We know this is a subject that people feel passionate about,” she said. “This benefit isn’t intended to be a statement about a very sensitive issue. What we did here was follow our past practices. We’ve covered reproductive health-care benefits for over 20 years, and our practice has also been to make sure our employees have the same health coverage no matter where in the U.S. they live.”
