SAN FRANCISCO (BRAIN) — InGoodTaste, a creative consultancy with industry clients, announced it will support woman's abortion rights by reimbursing employees for travel and supplemental medical costs above insurance coverage if they live in an area that eventually could restrict their choice.
IGT informed its staff on Wednesday that it will pay up to $5,000 in travel expenses annually for non-life threatening medical treatments, including abortions. On Tuesday, Politico published a Supreme Court draft opinion that if it becomes final would allow states to end abortion rights that have been in place for 50 years.
"Freedom to choose is a fundamental concept in our country and one that we strongly believe in supporting," said Ryan Lindholm, co-founder and CEO of IGT, whose clients include Canyon Bicycles, Giro Sport Design, Zwift, Wahoo, ROKA, and Kuat. "We spend our days helping brands and companies imagine and realize the future; to us, the loss of the right to choose feels like a giant step back into a past we would never want to repeat. It's a step that we, as a business and creative organization, could never support."
IGT's new benefit applies retroactively to Jan. 1 and is open to U.S. employees and covered dependents regardless of their role with the company. The benefit is applicable when a procedure is not available within an employee's home state, or 100 miles or more from their home, and when virtual care is not possible.
It's also part of IGT's overall family leave policy, which allows for 12 weeks' paid leave for new mothers and eight weeks' paid leave for caregivers who are not the birth mother. Additional extended leave is available for partial and unpaid compensation as part of this policy.
