Walmart widens abortion coverage for employees

Walmart is the latest retailer to expand its employee health insurance coverage of abortion in the wake of the overturn of Roe vs. Wade.

The retail giant — and the nation’s largest private employer — is expanding the type of medical cases for which its employee health-care plans would cover abortion and  related travel expenses, with the changes effective immediately.  In a memo sent to employees on Friday, the company said its health-care plans will now cover abortion for U.S. employees “when there is a health risk to the mother, rape or incest, ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage or lack of fetal viability," reported the Associated Press. 

Travel costs will be covered if the employee (of family membered covered under the plan) cannot access a legal abortion within 100 miles of their location. Walmart is headquartered in Arkansas, where abortion is banned under all circumstances unless the procedure is needed to protect the life of the mother in a medical emergency. The state makes no exceptions for rape or incest.

Previously, Walmart offered more limited coverage regarding abortion. Its coverage applied only to cases “when the health of the mother would be in danger if the fetus were carried to term, the fetus could not survive the birthing process, or death would be imminent after birth,” according to a copy of the report, which was viewed by the AP.

In the memo, Walmart said it will also launch a center that provides fertility services to employees, such as in vitro fertilization, according to the report. Additionally, it is also adding surrogacy support and increasing its financial aid for adoptions from $5,000 to $20,000. 

Walmart’s move to expand abortion coverage comes nearly two months after the Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe vs. Wade. In the days immediately following the decision, dozens of companies, including such retailers as Nike, Levi Strauss & Co., Starbucks, Dick’s Sporting Goods and others, expanded their abortion coverage to include out-of-state travel costs.  At the time, Walmart said it was “working thoughtfully and diligently to figure out the best path forward.”