Disney Workers Will Get A 'Travel Benefit' For Abortions Since Florida Plans To Ban Them
After Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court last week, Walt Disney Co. is offering to pay for their employees' cost of traveling out of Florida to get an abortion.
Florida is one of the suspected states expected to double down on banning the procedure entirely.
Back in April, the Sunshine State's governor, Ron DeSantis, banned pregnancy terminations after 15 weeks of term and it's scheduled to go into effect on July 1. It's reported that he's working to expand anti-abortion laws, per The Tampa Bay Times.
Walt Disney World's "travel benefit" allows for workers to have affordable coverage for medical care no matter the location, and that includes family planning decisions.
In a statement to the Tampa Bay Times, the company said that they "remain committed to providing comprehensive access to quality and affordable care for all of our employees, cast members and their families, including family planning and reproductive care, no matter where they live."
In 2021, Florida had 79,817 total abortions, according to the Agency for Health Care Administration. 4,873 of those abortions were from those out of state, which means thousands of women would come and seek medical help in a place that is now changing its laws regarding reproductive rights.
Walt Disney's statement didn't specify how much the benefits would include or how the process works, and this new development only adds to a longer list of feuds the park has had with the government, such as the company taking a stance against DeSantis' "Don't Say Gay" bill, which led to the park getting exempt from their special tax district.
Governor DeSantis spoke in Tampa this morning.
