Citigroup says it has begun protecting journey bills for workers who search abortions after a Texas regulation imposed essentially the most restrictive limits within the nation and prompted related proposals in different states.
“In response to modifications in reproductive well being care legal guidelines in sure states within the U.S., starting in 2022 we offer journey advantages to facilitate entry to satisfactory sources,” the financial institution mentioned in a filing on Tuesday.
About 8,500 of Citigroup’s 65,000 U.S. workers are in Texas.
The coverage places a Wall Road financial institution alongside smaller or newer firms in responding to the Texas regulation, which bans abortion after about six weeks of being pregnant and presents the prospect of $10,000 rewards for profitable lawsuits in opposition to anybody who “aids or abets” a girl who will get an abortion as soon as fetal cardiac exercise could be detected.
The regulation is the most recent blow to the Supreme Courtroom’s landmark 1973 resolution in Roe v. Wade, which prohibits states from banning the process earlier than a fetus is viable exterior the womb, or about 23 weeks of being pregnant. The Texas regulation’s novel method has survived courtroom challenges by placing its enforcement energy within the palms of the general public, quite than the federal government.
Citigroup declined to touch upon the brand new coverage, which was reported earlier by Bloomberg News. No different main financial institution has introduced any related coverage. JPMorgan Chase, Financial institution of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley declined to touch upon Thursday.
Various firms in different industries instituted insurance policies in opposition to the regulation after it went into impact in September. The courting app Bumble created a relief fund for folks in search of abortions within the state, Salesforce offered to relocate workers, and Lyft and Uber mentioned they’d cowl authorized prices for drivers transporting girls to clinics to obtain abortions. Shar Dubey, the chief government of Match Group — which runs on-line courting websites together with Match.com, OKCupid and Tinder — created a fund to help workers affected by the laws.
