By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor
ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM)—Two companies doing significant business in Louisiana have announced they will pay for all or some of their employees’ travel expenses to obtain abortions in other states if their home states ban abortion.
After the U.S. Supreme Court announced, June 24, its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson, which declared that states have the authority to regulate abortion, Louisiana declared abortion illegal except in cases of a life-threatening condition of the mother, or an ectopic pregnancy, or, when two doctors determine an unborn baby will not survive after birth.
At the same time, Kroger released a statement, June 24, explaining that it offers “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.” The company did not mention adoption benefits in its statement.
Likewise, Dick’s Sporting Goods also announced, June 24, via linkedin.com “that if a state one of our teammates lives in restricts access to abortion, DICK’S Sporting Goods will provide up to $4,000 in travel expense reimbursement to travel to the nearest location where that care is legally available. This benefit will be provided to any teammate, spouse or dependent enrolled in our medical plan, along with one support person.” Neither fertility treatments nor adoption were noted in the announcement.
Kroger is based in Cincinnati, Ohio, (800) 576-4377 or (513) 762-4000, and operates eight Louisiana stores:
— Alexandria, (318) 442-1851
— Sulphur, (337) 528-9913
— two in Lake Charles, (337) 436-3685; (337) 478-4051
— two in Bossier City, (318) 747-4211; 318-747-1058
— two in Shreveport, (318) 795-9944; (318) 688-2010
Dick’s Sporting Goods, with headquarters in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, (877) 846-9997 or (724) 273-3400, has nine retail locations in Louisiana:
— Baton Rouge, (225) 766-9100
— Gretna, (504) 361-3869
— Lake Charles, (337) 478-1488
— Lafayette, (337) 417.8371
— Metairie, (504) 835-0091
— Monroe, (318) 410-1156
— New Orleans, (909) 217-2456
— Shreveport (318) 797-9110
— Slidell, (985) 718-3252
Kroger and Dick’s Sporting Goods are among a growing list of companies who have promised to help cover abortion-related travel costs. According to multiple sources, these include: Accenture, Adidas, Airbnb, Alaska Airlines, Amazon, Apple, Bank of America, Box.com, Bumble, Chase, Chobani, Citigroup, Comcast-NBC Universal, Condé Nast, Disney, DoorDash, Goldman Sachs, Hewlett Packard, Johnson & Johnson, J.P. Morgan, Levi Strauss, Lyft, Mastercard, Match Group, Meta, Microsoft, Netflix, Nike, Paramount, Patagonia, PayPal, Reddit, Salesforce, Starbucks, Tesla, Uber, Warner Brothers Discovery, Yelp and Zillow.
