San Francisco-based tech company Yelp has announced it will pay the travel expenses for all employees who need to leave their home state to receive an abortion.
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The aid, announced Tuesday, covers all 4,000 employees at the online review service across the country. "We've long been a strong advocate for equality in the workplace, and believe that gender equality cannot be achieved if women’s healthcare rights are restricted," said Miriam Warren, Yelp's chief diversity officer.
The announcement comes after Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed into law a bill that only permits an abortion when it is necessary to save a pregnant person’s life. "We want to outlaw abortion in the state of Oklahoma," Stitt said during the signing ceremony. "I promised Oklahomans that I would sign every pro-life bill that hits my desk, and that's what we're doing here today."
Under the bill, any doctor who performs an abortion could be charged with a felony, facing up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.
Yelp's decision to help their employees get reproductive healthcare has the biggest immediate impact on workers in Oklahoma, Texas and other conservative states where leaders are clamping down on abortions.
The tech company joins a group of major employers who have stepped up to help their employees seeking reproductive healthcare, such as Citigroup, Uber and Lyft. Like Yelp, Citigroup has announced it will pay for travel fees, while Uber and Lyft revealed they will pay the legal fees for Texas drivers who could get sued for driving a passenger to an abortion appointment.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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