Mastercard Inc. said it would help pay for workers to travel to access abortions if pregnancy terminations aren’t available in their home state.
“We will continue to offer employees access to the same health care, including family planning and reproductive benefits, that is available today wherever they live,” the credit-card company said in a memo to staff Wednesday. “In the US, this includes a variety of services — from fertility treatments to surrogacy and adoption services, pregnancy prevention including vasectomy coverage and access to contraception, and pregnancy termination.”
With the move, Mastercard is joining companies including Citigroup Inc., Apple Inc. and Match Group Inc. in promising to cover employees’ travel costs incurred to access abortion. While a Supreme Court ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade “is not yet final, we recognize that this is a significant moment and one in which there might be a lot of questions,” Purchase, New York-based Mastercard said in the memo.
Mastercard has long paid for workers to travel to access other health services, including organ transplants and other specialty surgeries, according to the memo. The new abortion travel policy goes into effect June 1, according to the memo.
