Apple, Meta, Microsoft and Uber also rely on large groups of TVCs or gig workers and have announced abortion travel benefits for their employees. When asked whether non-employees were covered, Microsoft spokesperson Michelle Micor declined to answer; the other three companies did not respond.
Ironically, the workers who are excluded from abortion travel expenses are probably more likely to need it than full-time technical workers, given their generally lower compensation. In 2015, the Brookings Institution found that people with household incomes below the federal poverty line, who generally have less access to birth control and family planning, were 5 times more likely than more affluent people to experience an unintended pregnancy. Black and Hispanic people are overrepresented among abortion seekers.
People with lower incomes are also less likely to have health insurance that covers abortion. In 2014, the last year for which the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit abortion policy organization, has data, only 31 percent of people seeking abortion assistance had private health insurance. Another 35 percent was covered by Medicaid, which excludes most abortion coverage in 34 states that don’t fund it.
Experts say there are many ways tech companies can support TVCs and gig workers in the post-roe US, if they want. Shelley Alpern, director of corporate engagement at Rhia Ventures, a social-impact investment firm that files shareholder resolutions that pressure companies to support reproductive rights, says those steps include setting up a travel fund that would include temps and contractors. and suspending political donations to anti-abortion politicians and contacting lawmakers to oppose anti-abortion policies. Big companies “are like sleeping giants in this area,” Alpern says.
Other options for companies looking to make a difference include donating to local abortion funds in places where they do business or have employees, said Liza Fuentes, senior researcher at the Guttmacher Institute. “That’s pretty low-hanging fruit, and it’s much needed,” says Fuentes. She says tech companies can partner with the National Network of Abortion Funds, which allows donors to set aside money for specific communities, and groups like the Brigid Alliance, which arranges and funds abortion care and travel for those in need.
Some permanent employees within tech companies have pressured their own bosses to take some of those steps to support access to abortion. The Washington Post reported last month that employees within Amazon, Microsoft and Google have distributed petitions and internal messages urging their companies to pledge to protect the privacy of users who wish to have abortions.
In its statement calling on Alphabet to extend the benefits of abortion travel to TVCs, AKU’s Koul said the company should also stop donating to anti-abortion politicians and establish privacy protocols to protect Google users seeking information about abortion access. “History has proven that the Supreme Court ruling will not stop abortions, it will only stop safe abortions,” she wrote. “Google can do more to ensure that all employees and users have the information and resources necessary to safely access reproductive health services.”
A day after the AGU made its statement public, Google announced its privacy updates, which include removing abortion clinic visits from users’ location history. Software engineer and executive board member Ashok Chandwaney acknowledged the changes but reiterated that the company must go further in protecting user and employee privacy and expand access to abortion for all of its employees. “Our organization will continue,” he wrote.
