D-FW companies announce plans to expand abortion benefits, following reversal of Roe v. wade

This story is growing and will be updated.

Companies across the country are expanding employee benefits after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade of 1973, sweeping away the constitutional right to abortion.

Texas passed Senate Bill 8, otherwise known as the “heartbeat bill,” earlier this year. After a draft U.S. Supreme Court ruling on abortion was made public last month, some companies responded by assuring employees working in Texas and other states with restrictive laws that they could still get care.

These companies include JPMorgan Chase & Co., the largest US bank. It employs nearly 14,600 people in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area and has announced that it will pay employees to travel to another state if necessary to obtain a legal abortion. The benefit is effective as of July 1.

Dallas-based Match Group established a fund in October that continues to be available to employees who need safe access to abortion care.

In May, California-based software company Salesforce announced it would relocate employees worried about access to abortions or other medical procedures, according to CNBC. Salesforce has an office located on North Field Street with over 1,000 employees.

Companies that speak out may be targeted by the Texas legislature, according to the Texas Grandstand. Fourteen Republican members of the state House of Representatives have pledged to introduce bills in the next legislative session that would prevent companies from doing business in Texas if the companies paid for out-of-state abortions.

Roe’s overthrow makes abortion illegal in nearly half the country. Current Texas law prohibits the procedure after approximately six weeks of pregnancy.