Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon vows to cover employees' travel costs for abortion after the Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade: 'Many of you are deeply upset, and I stand with you'

David M. Solomon, Chairman and CEO, Goldman Sachs, participates in a panel discussion during the annual Milken Institute Global Conference at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on April 29, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California.
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon.Michael Kovac / Getty Images
  • The Supreme Court on Friday overturned Roe v. Wade, undoing nearly 50 years of legalized abortion.

  • JPMorgan on Friday said it would pay for employees to get an abortion if they work in states where its banned.

  • Goldman Sachs made a similar decision Friday afternoon.

Goldman Sachs has told employees that the firm is going to reimburse the costs for women to travel out of state to seek an abortion, according to an internal memo sent on Friday which was obtained by Insider.

"We have extended our healthcare travel reimbursement policies to include all medical procedures, treatments and evaluations, including abortion services and gender-affirming care where a provider is not available in proximity to where our people live," Bentley de Beyer, the firm's global head of human capital management, wrote in the memo sent on Friday afternoon. (The full memo is below.)

Later on Friday, Goldman CEO David Solomon issued an internal statement on the company intranet which was reviewed by Insider.

"This morning, the US Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, holding that the Constitution does not guarantee the right to choose to have an abortion. Millions of women are right now grappling with a new legal reality. I know many of you are deeply upset, and I stand with you.

"Today, we announced we have extended our healthcare travel reimbursement policies to include all medical procedures, treatments and evaluations, including abortion services, where a provider is not available in proximity to where you live," Solomon added.

"Our top priorities are the health and wellbeing of our people and their families," he wrote.

In announcing this commitment, Goldman joins a raft of other large firms, some of which are on Wall Street, that are extending out-of-state travel reimbursemets for abortions. Companies including JPMorgan Chase, Meta (owner of Facebook), and Microsoft have made similar vows to help cover travel costs for their staffers.

Insider is tracking the organizations that are extending these benefits to employees in the wake of the reversal of Roe v. Wade. You can find a full rundown of the latest company pledges here.

Here is a copy of the full memo:

June 24, 2022
Updates to Benefits Coverage for US Employees

We have been reviewing our US health and wellness benefits to ensure we are meeting the needs of our people and their families.

We have extended our healthcare travel reimbursement policies to include all medical procedures, treatments and evaluations, including abortion services and gender-affirming care where a provider is not available in proximity to where our people live.

Our updated policy maximizes access to quality healthcare providers anywhere in the US for all of our people, and our health plan carriers have been partnering with us over the past several weeks to operationalize this change, which will become effective on July 1. View more information about this coverage update on GSWeb.

The health and wellbeing of our people and their families are our top priorities, and we will continue to offer resources, including Critical Health Solutions, our on-site health centers and counseling services via the Employee Assistance Program to support you in navigating the evolving healthcare landscape and assessing quality care.

Bentley de Beyer

This story was updated on Friday evening with the contents of Goldman Sachs' CEO David Solomon's statement.

Read the original article on Business Insider