Yahoo Sports Cavaliers to cover costs for employees seeking abortion after Roe v. Wade ruling
The Cleveland Cavaliers are taking a stand against the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Roe v. Wade.
The Cavaliers announced on Monday that it will cover the costs for its employees to travel outside of Ohio should they need to receive an abortion or other reproductive health care.
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) June 27, 2022
“Prioritizing the well-being of our team members (employees) means to ensure they have the ability to make personal decisions about their health and future,” the team said in a statement. “We will now cover costs to travel outside Ohio for reproductive health care to the fullest extent permitted by law.
“We strongly support our team members’ right to make health care choices, and will continue to do so on our relentless pursuit for equal opportunity.”
The Cavaliers are just the latest corporation to offer to help its employees in the wake of the Supreme Court decision on Friday. Warner Brothers, Disney, Meta, Bank of America, Intuit, Zillow, Salesforce, Patagonia, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Lyft, Uber, BuzzFeed, H&M, Starbucks and Netflix are among companies who have said they will either cover costs or help employees in some way, according to The New York Times.
Ohio, just hours after the Supreme Court decision was handed down, moved to ban abortions after six weeks in the state. Under the new law, per the Cincinnati Enquirer, abortion providers could face felony charges. There is no exception for rape or incest, though there is one to save the life of a patient.
Ohio is one of 21 states that moved to either ban outright or severely restrict abortion following the ruling, per The New York Times. Another nine states are considered “uncertain.”
The Cavaliers join several other teams, organizations and athletes in the sports world in speaking out after the ruling. Both the WNBPA and the NWSLPA spoke out immediately, as did Megan Rapinoe, Billie Jean King, Sue Bird, NBA commissioner Adam Silver and WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, Lewis Hamilton and more.
