Akron-area employers vow to pay travel expenses for workers seeking out-of-state abortions

Some of the region's biggest employers say they will help employees travel to get abortions in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that held women had a constitutional right to make decisions regarding their pregnancies.

Travel may be necessary for many women, as the state last week enacted its controversial "heartbeat law" that prohibits abortion once there is fetal cardiac activity — which can occur before a woman even realizes she is pregnant.

The law criminalizes all abortions performed after the detection of fetal cardiac activity, which is about six weeks into a pregnancy (four weeks after conception), except to save the mother's life.

The Ohio Department of Health doesn't track how many abortions happen at the six-week mark, but about 38% of abortions performed in Ohio in 2020 (7,866) happened after nine weeks' gestation.

The closest abortion providers not bound by Ohio law are in Pittsburgh and Buffalo, New York.

Restriction becomes law: Ohio's six-week abortion ban becomes law hours after Supreme Court's Dobbs decision

Cavaliers express support for abortion rights

The Cleveland Cavaliers organization issued the following statement Monday:

"The Cleveland Cavaliers, Monsters, Charge, Cavs Legion, Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and Rock Entertainment Group stand for equality, and believe having full access to reproductive health care is a fundamental freedom of choice all women should have.

"Prioritizing the well-being of our Team Members (employees) means to ensure they have the ability to make personal decisions about their health and future. We will now cover costs to travel outside Ohio for reproductive health care to the fullest extent permitted by state law.

"We strongly support our Team Members’ right to make health care choices, and will continue to do so on our relentless pursuit for equal opportunity."

Other firms providing support for abortion access

Giant Eagle, Amazon and JPMorgan Chase & Co., among the state's largest employers, have also pledged to support employees who are seeking access to abortion services.

Giant Eagle issued the following statement Monday.

"At Giant Eagle, we are committed to providing our Team Members access to comprehensive healthcare, including access to reproductive care. We join other businesses by committing to reimburse expenses for covered family members to travel between states to access family planning services. We will share specific details related to this offering with our Team Members in the coming days."

Some of the corporate decisions were made after a draft of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning abortion rights was leaked.

In May, following the leak, Amazon.com told staff it would pay up to $4,000 in travel expenses for non-life-threatening medical treatments that include abortion.

Life at Amazon in Akron: 5,000 employees, 10,000 robots and 2.5 million square feet

Since then, companies across the United States have made pledges to support employees who find themselves forced to travel to obtain access to abortion services.

Other employers offering benefits include Starbucks and Pittsburgh-based Dick's Sporting Goods.

Like Amazon, Dick's said it will pay up to $4,000 in travel benefits to employees and dependents enrolled in the company's plan, including expenses to cover one support person's travel.

Ohio Right to Life responds

Elizabeth Whitmarsh, director of communications for anti-abortion group Ohio Right to Life, said the organization does not have plans to push for restrictions on out-of-state travel to obtain abortions.

"First and foremost, it's extremely telling that none of these corporations are offering support for someone who chooses life," she said. "They're only offering support for somebody who wants to get an abortion. They're just trying to follow the trend, do whatever goes along with the mainstream media ideas, and they're not really interested in helping women."

She said women have the constitutional right to travel to other states to get abortions.

"I don't know that we're going to try to attack this legally," she said. "I think it's more of a cultural issue that we have to think about and make it so no one feels that they have to choose abortion and that they can choose life."

Eric Marotta can be reached at 330-541-9433, or emarotta@recordpub.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarottaEric.