Fourteen companies that vowed to cover the cost of travel for a woman’s abortion could not name a company-wide benefit or initiative to the Daily Caller that helped employees pay for baby formula amid a nationwide shortage.
Companies including Yelp, OkCupid, Alaska Air, Lyft and Facebook’s parent company Meta told the Daily Caller that they offer a litany of wellness and health care benefits to employees, including covering the travel costs for an abortion. However, none of these companies could provide a concrete example of how they are helping current mothers obtain baby formula amid the nationwide shortage.
Yelp referred the Daily Caller to a statement from the company’s co-founder and CEO Jeremy Stoppelman, who claimed the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade puts women’s health “in jeopardy.”
“This ruling puts women’s health in jeopardy, denies them their human rights, and threatens to dismantle the progress we’ve made toward gender equality in the workplace since Roe. Business leaders must step up to support the health and safety of their employees by speaking out against the wave of abortion bans that will be triggered as a result of this decision, and call on Congress to codify Roe into law,” Stoppelman said.
Today’s SCOTUS ruling puts women’s health in jeopardy, denies them their human rights, and threatens to dismantle the progress we’ve made toward gender equality in the workplace since Roe. Business leaders must speak out now and call on Congress to codify Roe into law.
— Jeremy Stoppelman (@jeremys) June 24, 2022
A spokesperson for Yelp told the Daily Caller that the company implemented a “caregiver reimbursement to be used toward expenses like the cost of a babysitter or nanny, educational courses on safety for families, or lactation classes.” Yelp employees also have access to a therapy platform for themselves and dependents aged 13+.
But, Yelp could not list an initiative it participated in to help employees find baby formula.
OkCupid spokesman Michael Kaye told the Daily Caller that the company’s health care plan covers “travel and lodging costs for any employee who needs to travel out of state to receive care” and helps cover adoption and surrogacy fees for same-sex and all couples.
Kaye could not list an initiative to help employees find baby formula.
Alaska Air told the Daily Caller that they are “standing by” to help distribute baby formula to “any employees in need,” though the spokesperson could not list an initiative or specific benefit.
A spokesperson for Lyft said the company provides reimbursement for the cost of adoption, donor and surrogacy, as well as a reimbursement for the cost of breast milk delivery via a partnership with Milk Stork. Again, the company could not provide an initiative it created to help employees find baby formula.
Meta offers a litany of wellness and health benefits to its employees, though access to baby formula amid the shortage is not listed. Microsoft told the Daily Caller it has “nothing to share.” (RELATED: Disney Sends Memo To Employees Promising To Cover Travel Costs For Abortions)
Kelsey Bolar, a senior policy analyst at the Independent Women’s Forum*, told the Daily Caller that some companies opt to push abortion for women as it is easier to pay for than health care, maternity leave and a child’s health care benefits.
“Offering to pay for an employee’s abortion is a cheap way, literally and figuratively, for companies to ‘support’ women,” Bolar said. “After all, it’s much easier for companies to pay for an employee to get an abortion than it is for companies to pay for a pregnant woman’s health care benefits, her maternity leave, and her child’s new health care benefits.”
“None of these companies are putting out press releases explaining what they’re doing in light of Roe to support working mothers,” Bolar continued. “This is not pro-woman. It’s anti-mother.”
Disney, Johnson & Johnson, Tesla, JPMorgan & Chase Co., Bumble, Netflix, Expedia and Dick’s Sporting Goods did not respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.
*Independent Women’s Forum told the Daily Caller it does not take an official stance on abortion.