Starbucks to add abortion travel coverage to U.S. health benefits

Starbucks Corp will reimburse U.S. employees if they must travel more than 100 miles from their homes to obtain an abortion, according to a memo sent to employees on Monday.

The global coffee chain joins Amazon.com Inc, Microsoft Corp and a small but growing list of other companies to offer the benefit as some U.S. states impose tighter restrictions on abortion..

The issue gained urgency after Politico published a leaked draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court showing that a conservative majority of justices supported overturning the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide

“Like many of you, I’m deeply concerned by the draft Supreme Court opinion related to the constitutional right to abortion that was first established by Roe v. Wade,” wrote Sara Kelly, a human resources executive.

The benefit also applies to the dependents of employees, the memo said.