AT&T Joins Texas Employers Reimbursing Travel After Abortion Ruling

Scott Moritz, Bloomberg News

Signage on an AT&T store in Daly City, California, U.S., on Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. AT&T Inc. is expected to release earnings figures on January 27. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- AT&T Inc., one of the largest employers in Texas, said it is reimbursing travel expenses for medical procedures after the state banned abortions following a landmark US Supreme Court ruling.

The policy applies to medical services that employees can’t access within 100 miles of where they live, Dallas-based AT&T said in a statement that didn’t specifically mention abortion. “The health of our employees and their families is important to our company,” the telecommunications provider said.

The company joins JPMorgan Chase & Co., Walt Disney Co. and others in disclosing travel reimbursement policies in the wake of a US Supreme Court decision that ended the constitutional right for an abortion, allowing states to restrict the procedure. AT&T rival T-Mobile expanded its health coverage for women needing to travel for health care in May in response to a potential change in the abortion law.

AT&T had 203,000 employees at the end of last year, though it doesn’t break out how many are in Texas or other states were abortion is restricted.