Citigroup, one of the largest banks in the U.S., just announced a new incentive for its employees to prioritize their careers over family: travel money for abortions.
The bank revealed the new plan this week in a report ahead of its shareholders’ meetings in April, Axios reports. The $1.7 trillion-dollar company is the fourth largest bank in the U.S., according to Bankrate.
Starting in 2022, Citigroup plans to pay its employees’ travel costs to get an abortion. This includes flight expenses, lodging and other travel expenses, Bloomberg reports. The plan appears to be targeting the bank’s more than 8,500 employees in Texas, which has banned abortions on unborn babies with beating hearts since September.
“In response to changes in reproductive healthcare laws in certain states in the U.S., beginning in 2022 we provide travel benefits to facilitate access to adequate resources,” the company report states.
Former Citigroup executive Davia Temin praised the plan, saying it “puts their female employees first, over the political wrangling of the day.”
But pro-life women leaders criticized the company for ignoring the true needs of its female employees and their children.
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“Citi bank is offering to pay the costs of any U.S. employee who has to travel out of state to get an abortion? Imagine if, instead, it offered to cover the medical costs of birth… or baby supplies… or daycare…” Catholic News Agency writer Katie Yoder responded on Twitter.
Susan B. Anthony List also criticized the bank, saying forward-thinking companies empower working moms, they don’t pay them to kill their own children.
“How poorly you think of working moms. Shame on you,” the pro-life organization told Citigroup.
The news comes after Apple announced a similar plan last fall in response to the Texas heartbeat law. Tim Cook, CEO of the tech giant, said the company’s medical insurance will cover out-of-state abortion costs for its employees in Texas.
Other companies, including Uber, GoDaddy, Match and Tinder, Stitch Fix, Patagonia and Seventh Generation, also have criticized Texas for working to save babies from abortion. The software company Salesforce even offered to help employees move out of Texas because of the law.
These companies are not helping women by offering incentives to abort their unborn babies. Women already face intense pressure to have abortions, sometimes from partners and other times from their employers.
What they and their babies need is real support, and pro-life advocates are striving to provide it. Along with passing the heartbeat law last year, Texas state lawmakers also increased support for pregnant and parenting mothers and babies, ensuring that they have resources to choose life for their babies. Other pro-life advocates across the U.S. also are working to expand support services for families in need, through pregnancy centers, maternity homes, and even special programs for pregnant and parenting mothers in prison.
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