Intel Says It Will Cover Employee Abortions ‘Where Permitted’

Intel is not planning on expanding coverage for abortion care in view of the likely overturn of Roe v. Wade this summer, Oregon Business has learned.

“A final decision on Roe v. Wade has not been released by the US Supreme Court. However, we believe health-related decisions are among the most personal, and it is important to us that Intel employees have access to safe, timely healthcare,” says a statement sent to Oregon Business by Intel’s senior communications manager, Patricia Oliverio-Lauderdale. “Our U.S. health care options cover a wide range of medical treatments, including abortion where permitted, as part of our overall family planning benefits and we respect the rights and privacy of our employees to choose what best meets their health needs.”

Intel is Oregon’s largest private employer. The company also has campuses in 10 U.S. states, including Texas, which in September passed a law prohibiting abortion after a heartbeat can be detected — as early as six weeks in pregnancy.

Earlier this month Politico reported on a leaked Supreme Court opinion which would overturn the landmark Roe v Wade case, which guarantees the right to an abortion to all U.S. citizens.

Since then, several multinational corporations — including Amazon, Microsoft and Starbucks — have already announced expanded health benefits which include reimbursement for travel fees incurred by workers seeking an abortion out-of-state. (Currently, more than half of abortions in the United States are medication abortions, according to the reproductive rights think tank The Guttmacher Institute.)

Oregon Business also reached out to Nike, Columbia Sportswear, and FLIR to ask if the companies are taking any additional steps to safeguard its employee’s access to reproductive healthcare in other states, but received no response after multiple attempts at contact.

Oregon coffee chain Dutch Bros replied that they did not have anything to share currently, but that they might have news pertaining to the Supreme Court’s decision in a few weeks’ time.

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