Kroger to offer up to $4,000 of out-of-state travel costs for employees seeking abortion

The Kroger Co. corporate headquarters in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. Kroger is one of the nation's largest grocery retailers.

Credit: Scott Olson

Credit: Scott Olson

The Kroger Co. corporate headquarters in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. Kroger is one of the nation's largest grocery retailers.

CINCINNATI — Kroger is one of nearly two-dozen major U.S. companies adjusting its health care coverage after Friday’s SCOTUS decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Headquartered in Cincinnati, Kroger operates 2,750 retail stores. More than 300 of those stores are located in Ohio, and Kentucky, where abortion is now either banned or mostly banned.

Late last week, Kroger announced it will help employees pay for out-of-state travel if they need an abortion.

“At The Kroger Family of Companies, we strive to ensure our associates have access to a wide variety of benefits that provide value in their lives today and in the future. We invest in the whole person with a comprehensive benefits package that includes quality, affordable health care and travel benefits up to $4,000 to facilitate access to quality care for several categories of medical treatments and a full range of reproductive health care services, including abortion and fertility treatments, for company-plan participants,” a Kroger spokesperson said in a statement.

Here’s a list of companies that are offering employees out-of-state abortion assistance according to CNN Business:

  • Microsoft
  • Apple
  • Meta (Facebook)
  • Yelp
  • Disney
  • Uber
  • Netflix
  • Bumble
  • Match Group
  • Box.com
  • Levi Strauss
  • Comcast-NBC Universal
  • Warner Bros Discovery
  • Condé Nast
  • JPMorgan Chase
  • Nike
  • Starbucks
  • Dicks Sporting Goods
  • Alaska Airlines
  • Goldman Sachs
  • Zillow

Additional Background

In a 6-3 decision, SCOTUS sided with the conservatives in the Mississippi case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is the sole abortion provider in Mississippi, who sued Thomas Dobbs, the state’s chief health officer. The clinic sued in 2020 after legislation passed that would prohibit abortions after 15 weeks, with no exceptions for rape or incest.

The ruling wasn’t a shock to many because someone leaked a SCOTUS draft opinion in May that suggested the judges on the high court would overturn it.

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